Computers

NetVeda Safety.Net firewall

2008-03-29T10:31:00.001-07:00

NetVeda Safety.Net firewall
Website: http://www.netveda. com/consumer/ safetynet. htm
Download link: http://www.netveda. com/downloads/ index.htm
Author: NetVeda
Current version: 3.8.1
Version date: October 7th, 2007
Download file size: 4.31MB
License: Freeware
Operating systems supported: Windows 95/98/Me/2000/ XP
Additional software required: None
64 Bit capable: No
Portable version available: No
Non-English languages supported: No
Other relevant information:

Jetico Firewall

2008-03-29T10:30:00.001-07:00

Jetico Firewall
Website: http://www.jetico. com/jpfirewall. htm
Download link: http://www.jetico. com/jpfirewall. htm
Author: Jetico, Inc.
Current version: 1.0.1.61
Version date: July 19, 2005
Download file size: 2.67MB
License: Freeware
Operating systems supported: Windows 98/Me/NT/2000/ XP
Additional software required: None
64 Bit capable: Yes
Portable version available: No
Non-English languages supported: Yes
Other relevant information:

Online Armor Personal Firewall V2

2008-03-29T10:29:00.002-07:00

Online Armor Personal Firewall V2
Website: http://www.tallemu. com/product_ overview. html
Download link: http://www.tallemu. com/downloads. html
Author: Tall Emu Pty Ltd
Current version: 2.1.0.31
Version date: November 16, 2007
Download file size: 14.9MB
License: Freeware
Operating systems supported: Windows NT/2000/XP
Additional software required: None
64 Bit capable: No
Portable version available: No
Non-English languages supported: No

Comodo firewall

2008-03-29T10:29:00.001-07:00

Comodo firewall
Website: http://www.personal firewall. comodo.com/
Download link: http://www.personal firewall. comodo.com/ download_ firewall. html
Author: Comodo Group
Current version: 3.0.15.277
Version date: January 11, 2008
Download file size: 9.08MB
License: Freeware
Operating systems supported: Windows Xp/Vista
Additional software required: No
64 Bit capable: Yes
Portable version available: No
Non-English languages supported: Yes
Other relevant information: Version 2.4 is available for Windows 2000

Sunbelt-Kerio Personal Firewall

2008-03-29T10:28:00.000-07:00

Sunbelt-Kerio Personal Firewall
Website: http://www.sunbelt- software. com/Home- Home-Office/ Sunbelt-Personal -Firewall/
Download link: http://www.sunbelt- software. com/Home- Home-Office/ Sunbelt-Personal -Firewall/
Author: Sunbelt Software
Current version: 4.5.916
Version date: April 26, 2007
Download file size: 6.27MB
License: Freeware
Operating systems supported: Windows 2000/XP
Additional software required: None
64 Bit capable: No
Portable version available: No
Non-English languages supported: Yes
Other relevant information:

Spyware Doctor Starter Edition

2008-03-29T10:13:00.002-07:00

Spyware Doctor Starter Edition
Website: http://www.pctools. com/spyware- doctor/google_ pack/
Download link: http://www.download .com/Spyware- Doctor-Starter- Edition/3000- 8022_4-10704508. html
Author: PC Tools
Current version: 5.1.0.273
Version date: November 12, 2007
License: Freeware
Download File size: 14.72MB
Operating Systems Supported: Windows 2000/2003/XP/ Vista
Additional Software Required: None
64 Bit Capable: No
Portable Version Available: No
Non-English languages supported: Yes
Other relevant information: None

Spyware Terminator

2008-03-29T10:13:00.001-07:00

Spyware Terminator
Website: http://www.spywaret erminator. com
Download link: http://www.spywaret erminator. com/download/ download. aspx
Author: Crawler, LLC
Current version: 2.0.1.224
Version date: September 27, 2007
License: Freeware
Download File size: 8.51MB
Operating Systems Supported: 98/Me/NT/2000/ XP/2003 Server/Vista
Additional Software Required: None
64 Bit Capable: Yes
Portable Version Available: No
Non-English languages supported: Yes
Other relevant information: At least 10 MB of free hard drive space/ 2.1 beta released 1/12/2008

Microsoft Windows Defender

2008-03-29T10:11:00.000-07:00

Microsoft Windows Defender

Website: http://www.microsof t.com/downloads/ details.aspx? FamilyID= 435bfce7- da2b-4a6a- afa4-f7f14e605a0 d

Download link: http://download. microsoft. com/download/ e/d/0/ed099d5e- dc60-4740- 8747-1c72f053b80 0/WindowsDefende r.msi

Author: Microsoft

Current version: 1593

Version date: May 23, 2007

License: Freeware

Download File size: 4.9MB

Operating Systems Supported: Windows Server 2003 sp1 & sp2/Windows XP sp2

Additional Software Required: None

64 Bit Capable: Yes

Portable Version Available: No

Additional Software Required: Microsoft Internet Explorer 6.0 or later

Non-English languages supported: Yes

Other relevant information: Genuine Microsoft Windows Validation Required

Google Pack

2008-03-29T10:10:00.001-07:00

Google Pack
Website: http://pack. google.com/ intl/en/pack_ installer. html?hl=en&gl=us
Download link: http://pack. google.com/ intl/en/pack_ installer. html?hl=en&gl=us
Author: Google
Current version: 2.2.940.34809
Version date: August 28, 2007
License: Freeware
Download File size: 845KB
Operating Systems Supported: Windows XP or Vista
Additional Software Required: Microsoft Internet Explorer 6.0 or later or Mozilla Firefox 1.0 or later
64 Bit Capable: No
Portable Version Available: No
Non-English languages supported: Yes
Other relevant information: None

BitDefender

2008-03-29T10:06:00.000-07:00

BitDefender
Website: http://www.bitdefen der.com/
Author: Softwin
Date: 8/23/2007
Version: 8.0
Download File size: 13.18B
License: Freeware with registration
Operating systems supported: Windows 95/98/Me/NT/ 2000/XP/Vista
64 Bit Capable: no
Portable version available: yes
Other languages supported: yes
Additional Software Required: no

Avast

2008-03-29T10:00:00.001-07:00

Avast
Website: http://www.avast. com/eng/avast_ 4_home.html
Author: Alwil Software
Date: 01/12/2008
Version: 4.7
Download File size:18.0MB
License: Freeware
Operating systems supported: Windows 95/98/Me/NT/ 2000/XP/Vista
64 Bit Capable: yes
Portable version available: no
Other languages supported: yes
Additional Software Required: no

Remove SHORTCUT link from the desktop folder

2008-03-26T10:09:00.000-07:00

how to remove short cut arrows on u'r desktop items just go to start>run>regedit>hkey_classes_root

you willfind a file by name lnkfile click on that to that right you can see a file by name is shortcut delete that and again come to left click on pipfile you delete again is shortcut then restart the pc you cant see the shortcut arrow

Create A Hidden User Account

2008-03-26T09:56:00.000-07:00

This tweak allows an account that is normally displayed on the Welcome screen to be hidden from view. To log on using the account it's necessary to use the Log On To Windows dialog box similar to the one in Windows 2000. #[Start] [Run] [Regedit]#Registry Key:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\WindowsNT\CurrentVersion\Winlogon\SpecialAccounts\UserList#Modify/Create the Value Data Type(s) and Value Name(s) as detailed below.#Data Type: REG_DWORD [Dword Value] // Value Name: Type Name of Account to be Hidden#Setting for Value Data: [0 = Account is Hidden / 1 = Enabled]#Exit Registry and Reboot...

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

Recover the lost administrators password in Windows XP

2008-03-26T09:55:00.000-07:00

Slightly more work needed if you lose or forget the Windows XP administrator password.

1.First reboot Windows XP in safe mode by re-starting the computer and pressing F8 repeated as the computer starts up.

2.Then (in safe mode) click Start and then click Run. In the open box type "control userpasswords2" without the quotes - I have just used quotes to differentiate what you have to type.

3.You will now have access to all the user accounts, including the administrators account and will be able to reset the lost password.

4.Just click the administrators user account, and then click Reset Password.

5.You will need to add a new password in the New password and the Confirm new password boxes, and confirm by clicking OK.

All done, you have recovered the lost adminitrators password!

Keeping the Windows XP Core in the RAM

2008-03-26T09:44:00.000-07:00

If you have 512 MB or more of RAM, you can increase system performance by having the Windows XP 'Core' kept in the RAM instead of paged on the hard disk.

Go to Start -> Run - Type regedit and press enter - On the left hand side tree, navigate to

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

- On the list on the right side, look for an entry called 'DisablePagingExecutive'

- Double click it

- Press 1 on your keyboard

- Click OK

- Exit regedit and reboot the computer

To revert to the default setting, follow the same steps as above, but this time, press 0(zero) instead of 1 on the keyboard.

Remove Thumb.db file

2008-03-26T09:42:00.000-07:00

Thumb.db is is a cache of the current picture in that directory.to remove it go for following

step1 > open "WINDOWS EXPLORER".

2>go to "TOOLS".

3>open "FOLDER OPTIONS".

4>go to "VIEW".

5>see 1st section "FILES & FOLDERS".

6>click on the "DO NOT CACHE THUMBNAILS".

now the thumbnail file will be removed from ur computer once u do this the file will be never created.

AVG Anti Virus

2008-03-17T07:12:00.001-07:00

Website: http://free. grisoft.com/
Author: Grisoft
Date: 12/20/2007
Version :7.5.516
Download File size:31.5MB
License: Freeware
Operating systems supported: Windows 98/Me/NT/2000/ XP/Vista
64 Bit Capable: no
Portable version available: no
Other languages supported: no
Additional Software Required: no

AntiVir

2008-03-17T07:10:00.000-07:00

Website:
http://www.free- av.com
Author: Avira
Date: 01/12/2008
Version: 7.06.00.268
Download File size: 20.3MB
License: Freeware
Operating systems supported:Â Windows 95/98/Me/NT/ 2000/XP/Vista
64 Bit Capable: yes
Portable version available: no
Other languages supported: yes
Additional Software Required: no

KMeleon

2008-03-17T07:07:00.000-07:00

Website: http://kmeleon. sourceforge. net/

Download Link: http://kmeleon. sourceforge. net/download. php

Author: amutch, boisso, kkohler, ron_aegis, ulferikson

Current Version: 1.1.3

Version Date: 11/26/2007

License: Free GNU General Public License

Download file size: 5.2 MB

Operating Systems Supported: Windows 95-Vista

Additional Software Required: None

64 Bit Capable: No

Portable Version Available: No

Non-English Languages Supported: German, French, Spanish, Russian

Other Relevant Information: None

This software category is maintained by volunteer editor Joe Bennett. If you have any suggestions for alterations or additions to this item then you can contact Joe at joe@techsupportaler t.com

Avant

2008-03-17T07:06:00.000-07:00

Website: http://www.avantbro wser.com/
Download Link: http://www.download .com/Avant- Browser/3000- 2356_4-10150342. html
Author: Avant Force
Current Version: 11.5 build 21
Version Date: 9/30/2007
License: Free
Download file size: 1.85 MB
Operating Systems Supported: Windows 95-Vista
Additional Software Required: At least MS Internet Explorer 5.5
64 Bit Capable: No
Portable Version Available: Yes - http://dl.filekicke r.com/send/ file/184227- Z37W/avant. exe
Non-English Languages Supported: Many
Other Relevant Information: None

Maxthon

2008-03-17T06:51:00.000-07:00

Website: http://www.maxthon. com/
Download Link: http://www.maxthon. com/download. htm
Author: Maxthon (Beijing) Ltd.
Current Version: 2.07
Version Date: 12/28/2007
License: Free
Download file size: 2.9 MB
Operating Systems Supported: Windows 98-Vista
Additional Software Required: At least MS Internet Explorer 6
64 Bit Capable: No
Portable Version Available: No
Non-English Languages Supported: Many - Available via downloadable language packs
Other Relevant Information: None

Opera

2008-03-17T06:47:00.000-07:00

Website: http://www.opera. com/
Download Link: http://www.opera. com/download/
Author: Opera Software
Current Version: 9.25
Version Date: 1/15/2008
License: Free
Download file size: 4.7 MB
Operating Systems Supported: Windows 95-Vista, Mac OS 7.5-OS X, Various Linux Distros, OS/2, QNX, Various Mobile Phones, and Palm OS 5
Additional Software Required: None
64 Bit Capable: No
Portable Version Available: No
Non-English languages Supported: Many - Available via downloadable language files
Other relevant information:
Opera Language Files: http://www.opera. com/download/ languagefiles/

Mozilla Firefox

2008-03-17T06:44:00.000-07:00

Website: http://www.mozilla. org/
Download Link: http://www.mozilla. org/products/ firefox/
Author: Mozilla Corp.
Current version: 2.0.0.11
Version date: 12/3/2007
License: Free - Mozilla Public License
Download File size: 5.75 MB
Operating Systems Supported: Windows 98-Vista, OS-X, Various Linux Distros
Additional Software Required: None
64 Bit Capable: No
Portable Version Available: No
Non-English languages supported: Many; Available via downloadable language packs
Other relevant information:
Firefox Extensions: https://addons. mozilla.org/ en-US/firefox/ browse/type: 1
IE to Firefox Migration Guide: http://www.techsupp ortalert. com/firefox. htm
Changing the Language Pack: http://support. mozilla.com/ kb/Changing+ the+language+ pack

Disable The Booting Logo in Windows XP

2008-03-05T07:35:00.000-08:00

One can remove the boot logo that appears when you start Windows XP. This littletweak saves a few seconds of your boot time, but seconds count if you are serious about trying to get Windows XP up and running as quickly as possible. The only negative is that if you remove the boot logo, you will also not see any boot messages, such as check disk.

To remove the boot logo, follow these steps:

1. Select Start-->Run, type msconfig, and click OK.

2. In the System Configuration Utility, click the BOOT.INI tab.

3. On the BOOT.INI tab, click the NOGUIBOOT check box option. Click OK.

4. Restart your computer to check the results.

Navigating Windows Explorer By Keyboard

2008-03-05T07:12:00.000-08:00

Many people like navigating by keyboard. It can sometimes be faster and more efficient then using a mouse once you get the hang of it. Here’s two useful shortcuts that may help in that regard.

To open up Windows Explorer (not Internet Explorer), simply hold the Windows key and press E. No matter where you are, this will open Windows Explorer.

To navigate up and down, simply use the arrow keys.

To open and close subfolders use the * and - keys on the num pad. Note that these shortcut keys open and close *all* subfolders on the selected folder, not just one level, so if you have a lot of files and subfolders, opening them may take a few moments.

To open only one level of subfolders, use the + key on the num pad.

Reveal TinyURL Links

2008-03-05T06:25:00.000-08:00

While TinyURLs can sometimes be handy and short and pretty to pass around and post in your blog, they also effectively hide the original URL. What this means, is that sometimes, people can hide all sorts of URLs behind it, including those you may not really want to visit.

Here are two ways you can unmask those URLs.

Whenever you visit a page that has TinyURLs on it, click the bookmarked link, and it will replace all the TinyURLs with their actual URLs. You can visit the author’s site for this tool here: http://ghill.customer.netspace.net.au/embiggen/

The second way is go directly to the TinyURL site and click the “enable previews” link: http://tinyurl.com/preview.php?disable=1

You can also bookmark the enable link directly: http://tinyurl.com/preview.php?enable=1

You will have to have cookies enabled for this to work. Basically, what it does is visit the TinyURL website when you click on a TinyURL, show you what the actual link looks like, and at which time, you can choose whether or not you really want to visit the link.

CUBE DESKTOP

2008-02-26T08:24:00.000-08:00

http://www.cubedesktop.com/

Size - 3.1 MB

Download Link -

http://rapidshare.com/files/90735876/CubeDesktop.rar

Using Cube Desktop You Will Have 6 Desktops On Your Screen , They Will Be Six Sides A Cube , Which Can Be Moved By Mouse

You Can Set Different Wallpapers , Icons , Themes On These Desktops

Also You Can Keep Different Tasks Running On All The 6 Desktops

Works Fine With Windows XP , Vista

Band Width Meter Version 3.1.2

2008-02-26T08:05:00.000-08:00

A Usefull Software To Keep Track On Internet Bandwidth

Size - 1.8 MB

Download Link -

http://rapidshare.com/files/90733993/BWMeter.v3.1.2.rar

Keeps Record Of Download Usage And Upload Usage ( And Total Of Them ) In 5 Tabs ( Hourly , Daily , Weekly , Monthly , Yearly ) Individually

Usefull For Those Users who Have Limited Download Size For Specific Period

Also We Can Exclude Some Time From It , So That In That Peiod It Will Measure Nothing ( Usefull For Night Unlimited Users )

Working Fine With Both XP And Vista

X-Box 360 Theme For Windows XP

2008-02-26T07:50:00.000-08:00

X-Box 360 Theme For Windows XP

Not Tested On Windows Vista ,

Working Fine On Windows XP

Installs X-Box 360 Theme On Your Windows XP

To Change It ( Apply It ) , No Need Of Any Software Like Windowblinds

Theme Is In 5 Different Colour Appearances

Download it from here.

Access your PC Remotely

2008-01-29T07:15:00.000-08:00

If you want is to control a remote PC (remote desktop), you can do that for free.
So, you want to use Logmein.com to help a member of your family with a computer problem? Have them do the following:

1.Surf on over to www.logmein.com

2.Have them create a new account. They should select the LogmeIn Free account for Personal Remote Access.

3.Once registration is complete, they need to install the LogMeIn software to their computer. It will be a small software module which runs as a service under Windows.

4.Next, they need to send you the username and password to their Logmein.com account. You will also need the password they chose to secure their computer.

5.Log into their account and you will see their computer there on the list. Click on it, enter the password for the computer, and you will soon be looking right at their desktop.

You can then control the PC as if you were sitting right in front of it. And, they will be able to watch you as you control the computer. They will see their mouse cursor moving around and see everything you are doing. The LogMeIn connection is secure, so you don’t have to worry about anybody spying on what you’re doing.

Bookmark And Organize Your Log Files

2008-01-27T07:21:00.000-08:00

If you are a system administrator who has to keep up with various tasks via log files, a great way to quickly access them is via your browser bookmarks. I have found Internet Explorer to be the best for this , so here is what you need to do:

1. Open IE and type in the network location of your log file, for example: file://servername/c$/logs/programlog.txt (note: c$ is a built-in hidden share available only to a Windows Domain Administrator).
2. The log file contents should open in IE.
3. Add this location to your favorites.
4. Repeat 1-3 for all your log files.
5. Go to the Organize Favorites section in IE.
6. Create a new favorites folder and place all your log bookmarks in them.
7. Now when you open your favorites, you can click on the “folder arrow” to open all your log files in separate tabs at once.

This is a great time saver for open several log files at once without having to navigating to each on or remote connecting to the server.

How To Shutdown Linux on a Timer?

2008-01-25T09:59:00.000-08:00

This is a relatively simple tip, but if you’re new to Linux you might not be familiar with it. I don’t believe there is a built-in feature for doing this within Gnome or KDE, but this uses the command line so it will work in any environment.

This is quite simple to implement. You will need to open the command line to use this, but don’t fear! You don’t need to know anything about how to use the command line. In fact, I’ll even tell you how to make a handy little button for this.

If you’re comfortable with the linux terminal, you might already know that you can type halt on the command line and your computer will immediately shut down. Well, halt has a sibling command called shutdown which has a little bit more intelligence and features built into it. Shutdown is the command that we’ll be using here. First you’ll need to bring up your terminal.

If you’re running Ubuntu go to Applications > Accessories > Terminal. Now you should have a command prompt. Here’s an example of the command if you want to shut down in 30 minutes:

sudo shutdown -h +30

Sudo means you need to temporarily become admin in order to shut down the system - so you will be prompted for your password. -h tells shutdown that you want to halt the system as opposed to restarting it. +30 means you’re specifying 30 minutes on the timer. The other way to specify the time is to say exactly what time you want the system to shutdown. It’s in 24-hour time, so if you want the system to shutdown at 9:30PM, here’s the command:

sudo shutdown -h 21:30

Again, this will probably ask you for your password. If you want to cancel the shutdown, you can try typing Ctrl+C in the terminal where you issued the shutdown, or if that doesn’t work then you can manually issue a shutdown cancel like this:

sudo shutdown -c

Make your PC shutdown at a time u wish

2008-01-25T09:52:00.000-08:00

This may be help to you if have the habit of listening to songs and sleeping or if you are planning to download some thing.

By These Methods Your Pc Will be automatically shutdown after a predefined time …No tension of shutdown the Pc..

Here is the trick!!

To Make A Shutdown Timer!

METHOD # 1

Go to Start > run> Type

shoutdown -s -t XX ( XX is the time period in second before the shut down)

Example:If you want it to shutdown your pc after 1 hour set it to 3600 (seconds) in XX

shutdown -s -t 3600 (Shut down time will be set to 1 hour)

If you want to cancel the shutdown timer Go to Start > run> Type

shutdown -a

METHOD # 2

The easiest way to further manipulate the processes of shutdown, restart or logoff of your PC is by this..

Go to Start > run> Type

shutdown -i

By doing this the following window will popup and you got a better control of your PC.

METHOD # 3

1. Right click on your desktop and make a new Shortcut.

2. Type shutdown -s -t 1200 (1200 is the time period in second before the shut down)

3. Name your shortcut. Just Like ShutPC

4. U Can Change the icon (right click the icon and click Properties, then Change Icon)

5. To activate the timer, just double click this icon.

You may want to create another icon to deactivate the timer.

1. Right click on the desktop and make another shortcut.

2. Type shutdown -a

3. Name the shortcut. e.g. "XshutPC"

4. Again,U can change the icon if you like.

5. Double click this icon to deactivate the timer.

METHOD # 4

open Notepad and Type

shutdown -s -t

Save the file as Shutdown.bat

To activate the timer, just double click this icon.

Add Safe Mode to Boot menu

2008-01-25T09:51:00.000-08:00

Safe Mode is most commonly used for troubleshooting purposes. If you find yourself booting to safe mode often. You may find it helpful to include the option for safe mode in your boot menu. Below, is a method you can use to save yourself from having to press F8 during startup to access Safe Mode:
Right click My Computer and click Properties.
Click the Advanced tab.
Under Start Up and Recovery, click the Settings button.
Click Edit. The boot.ini file will open in Notepad.

Copy the line that reads as follows: multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(2)\WIND

OWS=”Microsoft Windows XP Professional” /fastdetect.

Paste the line you just copied after the original one.
Change the copied line from “Microsoft Windows XP Professional” to “Windows XP Safe Mode” or something similar.
At the end of this line add the following: /safeboot:minimal /sos /bootlog.
Save the boot.ini file by clicking File then Save.
Restart your computer and Safe Mode should be available at the boot menu.
Note: Your actual Boot.INI may vary to a small degree. The above is an example only. Be sure to copy your boot.ini file prior to making any changes to it.

Stop your modem from frequently disconnecting

2008-01-25T09:49:00.000-08:00

On the Desk Top Double click on the icon "My Computer"

Double click on Dial Up Networking

Right click on the Satyam Online icon (or the dialer that you are using) and select Properties on the menu-> click on configure

Click on the Connection Tab and click on Advanced, in Extra Settings, type as 10=250

Then it will be done....

10 tips for securing your PC

2008-01-25T09:47:00.000-08:00

1. Update / patch ALL your software every now and then!

2. Check / adjust ALL your settings so they are safe, since they ARENT by default!

3. Use firewall, like ZoneAlarm!

4. Use good passwords: at least 13marks long, containing both letters and numbers. Remember to chance your password every few months atleast!

5. Get good anti-virus & Spyware softwares and keep it updated!

6. Don’t open or execute files that you are not 100% sure are absolutely safe no matter where or how you get them.

7. Wipe your historyfiles (like cookies, internet history and temporary files, etc.), logs and personal files, with specific wiping program (like Eraser) instead of just deleting them.

8. Use encryption to enhance your privacy! Use encrypted email (like Hushmail or Ziplip) and encrypt sensitive files on your computer (PGP).

9. Don’t use public computers for anything you need to type in your logins, they usually have Trojan horses that capture your passwords.

10. Don’t assume anything. If you don’t know, find out! If you cant or don’t understand, ask someone who knows! There’s nothing more dangerous than doing something you don’t really know anything about. That’s the best way to cripple your system or get a Trojan horse on your computer!

NETSEND COMMAND

2008-01-11T09:44:00.000-08:00

Net Send command is used to send messages to other users, computers, or messaging names on the network. The Messenger service must be running to receive messages; it is automatically enabled when you install windows. You can send a message only to a name that is active on the network.

Messenger Services can be used to send advertisements and spam to vulnerable machines on a network. A box will pop up on your screen with the text "Messenger Services" at the top, but the text will be an ad for a product or service interrupting whatever you're doing on the computer at the time.

To make sure this doesn't happen to you, just take the following steps:

Windows 2000

1. Click Start -> Programs -> Administrative Tools -> Services

2. Scroll down and highlight "Messenger"

3. Right-click the highlighted line and choose Properties.

4. Click the STOP button.

5. Select Disable or Manual in the Startup Type scroll bar

6. Click OK

Windows XP

1. Click Start -> Control Panel

2. Click Performance and Maintenance

3. Click Administrative Tools

4. Double click Services

5. Scroll down and highlight "Messenger"

6. Right-click the highlighted line and choose Properties.

7. Click the STOP button.

8. Select Disable or Manual in the Startup Type scroll bar

9. Click OK

Net Send Command

Net Send {name | * | /DOMAIN | /USERS} Message

Name Is the username, computer name, or messaging name to send the message to. If the name is a computer name that contains blank characters, enclose the alias in quotation marks (" ").

* Sends the message to all the names in your group.

/DOMAIN Sends the message to all the names in the workstation domain. If name is specified, the message is sent to all the names in the specified domain or workgroup.

/USERS Sends the message to all users connected to the server.

Message Is text to be sent as a message.

Total Video Converter

2008-01-11T09:42:00.001-08:00

Convert all video files to 3gp,mp4,psp,iPod,swf,flv,dvd,vcd,avi...

Total Video Converter is a complete solution for video conversion which supports reading, playing all kinds of video and audio formats and converting them to the popular video formats. Total Video Converter includes a powerful media conversion engine internally so that you can convert media files with very fast speed.

Main Features:
l Convert all kinds of videos to mobile videos or audios (mp4, 3gp, xvid, divx mpeg4 avi, amr audio) which are used by cellphone, PDA, PSP, iPod;
2 High compatibility and high efficiency for Importing RMVB or RM video/audio;
3 Convert various videos to MPEG videos compatible with standard DVD/SVCD/VCD;
4 Rip DVD to popular videos of all sorts;
5 Convert various videos to SWF, FLV Macromedia video;
6 Extract audio from various of videos and convert which to all kinds of audios (mp3, ac3, ogg, wav, aac);
7 RIP CD to audios of all sorts directly.

Support All popular video and audio formats:
avi,dat,3gp,qt,mov,mpg,mpeg,m1v,wmv,asf,ogm,mkv,ds m,vob,mp4,ra,rm,ram,amr, 3gp,3gp2,3g2,3gpp,psp,flv,fli,flc,rmvb,rpm,gif,ifo ,mp3,ac3,wav,aac,aiff,au,cda,mp2

Total Video Converter supports generating the following file formats:

Outpu Video Formats:
. MPEG4(.mp4)
. 3gp(.3gp, 3g2)
. Game Psp(.psp)
. MPEG1(.mpg, mpeg)
. NTSC, PAL DVD mpeg
. NTSC, PAL SVCD mpeg
. NTSC, PAL VCD mpeg
. Ms Mpeg4 AVI(.avi)
. Divx AVI(.avi)
. Xvid AVI(.avi)
. H264 AVI(.avi)
. Mjpeg AVI(.avi)
. HuffYUV AVI(.avi)
. Swf Video(.swf)
. Flv Video (.flv)
. Gif Animation(.gif)
. Mpeg4 Mov(.mov)
. Apple Quicktime(.mov)
. FLIC format(.fli, .flc)
. Gif Animation(.gif)
. DV (.dv)

Outpu Audio Formats:
. MPEG audio(.mp3, mp2)
. Ms WAV(.wav)
. Ms WMA(.wma)
. OGG(.ogg)
. Amr audio(.amr)
. Amr audio(.awb)
. Mpeg4 audio(.m4a)

Code:
http://rapidshare.com/files/18465506/TotalVideoConverter_3.02_by-sameer.rar
password: www.warezforum.info

Folder Lock

2008-01-11T09:39:00.001-08:00

Vista/2003/XP/2000/NT/Me/98/98S compatible and works on all kinds of disk types like FAT16, FAT32, NTFS. Folder Lock is the most downloaded file-security program in the market today.

More info:

Code:

newsoftwares.net/folderlock/

Appz + Fix (3.85MB):

Code:

http://rapidshare.com/files/30076741/Folder.Lock.v5.7.3.zip

WindowBlinds

2008-01-11T09:35:00.000-08:00

WindowBlinds is a program that enables Windows users to completely change the look and feel of Windows users interface. Users customize Windows by using visual styles (skins) created for WindowBlinds. With these skins, WindowsBlinds can change the look of Title bars, borders, Task bars, Start button, Start menu, Progress animations, Toolbar icons, Explorer Views, and virtually every other part of Windows!

WindowBlinds is the only program that can customize the GUI of WindowsXP without having to alter system DLLs.

WindowBlinds has been tested to ensure it works with Windows Vista, so you know it is compatible, reliable, and more secure.

Download
http://rapidshare.com/files/24461481/Windows_Blinds_Pack.HellBrass.Upload.rar

App Only:
http://rapidshare.com/files/25442381/Windows_Blinds.v5.5_.HellBrass.Upload.rar

Password
renegadeddl.com

Stardock ObjectDock Plus 1.90 535u

2008-01-11T09:34:00.000-08:00

ObjectDock is a program that enables users to organize their shortcuts, programs and running tasks into an attractive and fun animated Dock. By allowing users to have more control over how they organize their desktop, users can take control of their desktop icons and shortcuts to have them be available when where and how they need them. This, all with the unique style and top-rate performance that ObjectDock is known to deliver!
In constant development, ObjectDock and ObjectDock Plus are enhanced often to provide the most unique features of any stylized shortcut organizer / launcher available.
http://rapidshare.com/files/28147351/sdodtexas.rar

7-Zip 4.53

2008-01-11T09:14:00.001-08:00

7-Zip is a file archiver with a high compression ratio.

Compression ratio in the new 7z format is 30-50% better than ratio in ZIP format.

7-Zip works in Windows 98/ME/NT/2000/XP. Command line version of 7-Zip can be used in Linux via Wine program.7-Zip is the free file archiver with the highest compression ratio.

Usually 7-Zip compresses to 7z format 30-70% better than to zip format. And 7-Zip compresses to zip format 2-10% better than other zip compatible programs

Download Link:-

http://rapidshare.com/files/53022110/7z453_32-64_.rar

Partition Magic 8.05

2008-01-11T09:13:00.001-08:00

* Divides a single hard drive into two or more partitions

* Lets you safely run multiple operating systems on the same PC

* BootMagicâ¢ makes it easy to switch between different operating systems

* Allows you to copy, move, resize, split, or merge partitions as needed without losing data

* How-to wizards guide you step by step through the partitioning process

* Intuitive WindowsÂ®-based browser lets you find, copy and paste files in both Windows and LinuxÂ® partitions

* Allows you to create and modify partitions up to 300 GB*

* Supports USB 2.0, USB 1.1, and FireWireÂ® external drives**

* Supports FAT, FAT32, NTFS, Ext2, and Ext3 file systems

* Converts partitions among FAT, FAT32, and NTFS without losing data

* Allows you to enlarge an NTFS partition without restarting your computer

* Resizes NTFS system clusters to the most effective size

Download Link:-

http://rapidshare.com/files/56895746/partitionmagic805.rar

Download Accelerator Plus 8.5.5.5 Premium

2008-01-11T09:12:00.000-08:00

DAP Features:

- Preview pane – Preview downloads of Music and Video files

- Download list - Advanced management of downloads queues, priorities and statuses

- File Information pane – Advanced information of downloaded files and sources

- Completed downloads list – Separate list of completed downloads

- DAP Drive integration – Save downloads and Upload files to DAP Drive web storage

- Media Center Tab – Conveniently manage your media files

- Superior Usability – New interface with flexible design options

- Integrates with all browsers – Internet Explorer, Netscape, Opera, Mozilla/Firefox

Download Accelerator Plus registered version includes:

- Zip Extract - download & extract specific files from zip archive

- Removal of the Banner Advertisement within the application

- DAP Skin Selection

- Management of site passwords and other relevant info (unlimited)

- Tray icon minimization while downloading

- Prioritized technical support

- Extreme acceleration speed - for faster download rate

Only with DAP Premium:

- Extremely faster - x10 connections per download!

- Absolutely no advertisements!

- Totally customized download experience!

- Shredder to totally eliminate files you don't need!

- Trace Cleaner -keep your privacy after browsing!

- Preview & extract zip files while downloading!

- Cool new look, more comfortable management features!

Download Links:-

http://rapidshare.com/files/62427666/DAP_v8.5.5.5_Build_292_PremiuM.rar

VirtualDrive® Pro 11.5

2008-01-11T09:09:00.000-08:00

FarStone's best CD/DVD emulator offers all the virtual CD features and disc support of VirtualDrive. But it also comes with a full version of Virtual Hard Drive Pro, which lets you run files and applications in RAM up to 340 times faster than on your hard drive.

VirtualDrive Pro 11.5 is a major product update with many new features, including ISO support and custom VCD cabinets.

Features & Benefits

* Virtual Hard Drive

Run your files and applications in RAM up to 340 times faster than on your hard drive

* Disc Support

VirtualDrive Pro reads CD-ROM discs, audio CDs, mixed-mode CDs, photo CDs, video CDs (DVD-ROMs data-mode), and unencrypted video DVDs, and offers the same game and disc support as VirtualDrive 11

* Free Live Update Subscription

Get the latest product features, patches, fixes, and game support. Itâs free in all current versions of VirtualDrive Pro!

* Optimal Performance

Run games and applications as VCDs with access rates more than 200 times faster than physical discs. Plus, thereâs no spin-up delay!

* CD/DVD Archiving

Organize your virtual CDs in a searchable library

* Intuitive GUI

VirtualDrive Proâs streamlined, user-friendly interface gets you up and running in no time!

* Disc Backup

Protect your CDs and DVDs from loss, theft, and damage by using high-quality disc images (VCDs) instead

* Multiple Disc Play

Pre-load up to 23 virtual discs and toggle back and forth between games or virtual CD volumes without having to wait for physical discs to spin up

* Portability and Convenience

Transport your virtual CDs on a laptop, an external hard drive, and other common digital storage media

* Custom VCD Creation

Make a virtual CD file containing applications, documentation, expansion packs, etc. and share it over a network

* CD/DVD Burning

Burn data, music, and game CDs and DVDs directly from VirtualDrive, and make backup copies of your favorite game discs

Windows Vista Support

VirtualDrive works on 64 and 32-bit Windows Vista, XP, 2000, and Server 2003

Download Link:-

http://rapidshare.com/files/61411757/VirtualDrive_Pro_v.11.5.rar

Grease Monkey

2008-01-11T09:07:00.001-08:00

Greasemonkey Hacks is an invaluable compendium 100 ingenious hacks for power users who want to master Greasemonkey, the hot new Firefox extension that allows you to write scripts that alter the web pages you visit. With Greasemonkey, you can create scripts that make a web site more usable, fix rendering bugs that site owners can't be bothered to fix themselves, or add items to a web site's menu bar. You can alter pages so they work better with technologies that speak a web page out loud or convert it to Braille. Greasemonkey gurus can even import, combine, and alter data from different web sites to meet their own specific needs.

Greasemonkey has achieved a cult-like following in its short lifespan, but its uses are just beginning to be explored. Let's say you're shopping on an e-commerce site. You can create a script that will automatically display competitive prices for that particular product from other web sites. The possibilities are limited only by your imagination and your Greasemonkey expertise. Greasemonkey Hacks can't help you with the imagination part, but it can provide the expert hacks-complete with the sample code-you need to turn your brainstorms into reality.

More than just an essential collection of made-to-order Greasemonkey solutions, Greasemonkey Hacks is crammed with sample code, a Greasemonkey API reference, and a comprehensive list of resources, to ensure that every resource you need is available between its covers.

Some people are content to receive information from websites passively; some people want to control it. If you are one of the latter, Greasemonkey Hacks provides all the clever customizations and cutting-edge tips and tools you need to take command of any web page you view.

http://www.flazx.info/1VPZdfvD/0596101651.zip.htm

Web page maker 2.5

2008-01-11T09:00:00.000-08:00

Web Page Maker is an easy-to-use web page editor that allows you to create and upload web pages in minutes without knowing HTML. Simply drag and drop objects onto the page and position them freely in the layout. It comes with several pre-designed templates that help you to get started. It also includes ready-to-use navigation bars that can be inserted into the page. Additional features include built-in color picker, Java script library, image library and built-in FTP client.

Main Features

-No html coding is required and you do not need any web experience.

-Drag and drop the objects. True WYSIWYG layout & design.

-Create websites with multiple pages and easily manage your site at once.

-Pre-designed website templates included.

-Change the color of linked text on mouse over,etc.

-Ready-to-use Java Script effects are offered.

-Hundreds of functions: thumbnail, mouse-over effects, ready-to-use -Java Script effects, text link style sheet, tables, forms, iFrames and much moreâ¦

-Preview web pages in browser with one-click.

-Publish your web site with just one-click.

Download:

http://rapidshare.com/files/63577860/WebPM25.rar

Microsoft Windows Services for UNIX v3.5

2008-01-11T08:57:00.000-08:00

Quick Details

File Name: SFU35SEL_EN.exe

Version: 3.5

Date Published: 9/21/2006

Language: English

Download Size: 217.6 MB

Overview

Windows Services for UNIX 3.5 provides a full range of supported and fully integrated cross-platform network services for enterprise customers to use in integrating Windows into their existing UNIX-based environments.

System Requirements

* Supported Operating Systems: Windows 2000; Windows 2000 Service Pack 3; Windows 2000 Service Pack 4; Windows Server 2003; Windows XP.

* The minimum system requirements for installing Windows Services for UNIX depends on which components you are installing and the file system of the disk where the components will be installed.

* The maximum disk space required to install all Windows Services for UNIX components is approximately 275 MB. The minimum disk space required is 19 MB.

Note: The product will not install on Windows 9x or Windows XP Home Edition.

Homepage and more info here:

Code:

http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?familyid=896c9688-601b-44f1-81a4-02878ff11778&displaylang=en

Download it from here:

http://download.microsoft.com/download/a/1/c/a1ca7af1-a6e3-46e7-874a-4c5d8c0fb3b7/SFU35SEL_EN.e xe

Opera Browser

2008-01-11T08:51:00.000-08:00

Opera Browser

Why Opera? Safe, secure, powerful and fully customizable, the Opera Web browser is faster and more secure than other browsers available on the market. Opera delivers robust security and a far-richer feature set than any other Web browser and it's free.Moreover u can browse through all the wapsites as well .

Opera is the Web pioneer that delivered tabbed browsing in 2000, and Opera 9.2 features lots of other great tricks for quick navigation, including Speed Dial, a quick way to put all of your favorite daily sites at your fingertips. You can also take, save and trade Notes attached to any Web site while browsing, or Create Search shortcuts from any search field on the Web. Opera 9.25 is super fast and free, secure and stable, and offers lots of great tools for Web Developers.

1. Opera 9.50b English

File Size :- 4.52 MB

Link :- http://w13.easy-share.com/13663381.html

2. Opera 9.25 International

File Size :- 5.44 MB

Turbo C++

2008-01-11T08:43:00.000-08:00

Turbo C++
Download Link:
http://w13.easy-share.com/13043631.html

App get

2008-01-11T08:38:00.002-08:00

App get

An application which scans the installed softwares on the system n provides with

required updates n upgrades.

Download Link:
http://w15.easy-share.com/13041731.html

Adobe Photoshop CS 3

2008-01-11T08:38:00.001-08:00

Adobe Photoshop CS 3

-Adobe Photoshop CS3 software, the professional image-editing standard and leader of the Photoshop digital imaging line Adobe Photoshop software, the professional image-editing standard and leader of the Photoshop digital imaging line, delivers more of what you crave.
-Groundbreaking creative tools help you achieve extraordinary results. Unprecedented
adaptability will let you custom-fit Photoshop exactly to the way you work. And with
more efficient editing, processing, and file handling, there's no slowing you down.
Download Links:
Part 1: http://w13.easy-share.com/13004401.html
Part 2: http://w15.easy-share.com/13010701.html
Part 3: http://w15.easy-share.com/13181521.html
Part 4: http://w15.easy-share.com/13186531.html
Part 5: http://w15.easy-share.com/13186571.html
Part 6: http://w13.easy-share.com/13188161.html

Adobe reader 8

2008-01-11T08:37:00.001-08:00

Adobe reader 8

AdobeÂ® ReaderÂ® software is the global standard for electronic document sharing. It is
the only PDF viewer that can open and interact with all PDF documents. Use Adobe Reader to view, search, digitally sign, verify, print, and collaborate on Adobe PDF files.
Download Link:
http://w13.easy-share.com/13042891.html

Text To speech Maker

2008-01-11T08:36:00.000-08:00

Text To speech Maker
Download Link:
Part 1: http://w13.easy-share.com/13794291.html
Part 2: http://w13.easy-share.com/13791161.html
Keygen:
http://w13.easy-share.com/13779591.html

Quick Heal Total Security 2007

2008-01-11T08:31:00.000-08:00

Quick Heal Total Security 2007

Download Link:
Part 1: http://w13.easy-share.com/13885761.html
Part 2: http://w15.easy-share.com/14001941.html
part 3: http://w15.easy-share.com/13888081.html

The impact of AJAX on the network

2007-11-26T09:32:00.001-08:00

In the beginning there was HTML, and it was good. Users filled out a form and hit the “submit” button, then waited for the server to respond. As applications increasingly became webified, this form-based submission model served us well and the request-reply model remained the de facto standard for building web-based applications.

But users complained about application responsiveness, or the lack thereof, and desired more interactive applications with less wait time between form submissions. Web acceleration became a key component of architecting an application infrastructure capable of scaling and performing to meet user expectations.

But you know users; they still weren’t satisfied. They missed the interactive responsiveness of their fat clients…and while they liked web-based applications, they just weren’t robust enough to keep users happy for long. Enter Web 2.0 and, specifically, Asynchronous JavaScript and XML (AJAX).

AJAX allows developers to build applications with rich interfaces that act more like their fat-client ancestors than their web-based cousins. Applications built on AJAX are often also referred to as Rich Internet Applications (RIA), those built upon Adobe’s Flash platform are referred to as AFLAX (Asynchronous Flash and XML) or just FLAX (Flash and XML). What they all have in common is their ability to communicate with the server asynchronously and a set of fat-client client “widgets” (components, gadgets) that spice up the user-interface and make users happy. Not only are these interfaces sexier, but they’re also capable of functioning like a fat-client—they can communicate with the server at will, with or without a specific user action initiating the exchange, and they can update objects on the page without requiring the entire page to be refreshed from the server.

Basically, AJAX moves web-based applications from a page model to a true application model, based on events and user actions rather than pages.In the quest to deliver fat-client functionality on a thin-client platform (i.e., the browser), many developers have turned to using toolkits. These toolkits (Dojo, Zimbra, Laszlo, Google) are JavaScript libraries that present an API and/or a set of markup tags that make it easy to develop rich interfaces and communicate with the server over HTTP. Unfortunately AJAX and similar technologies introduce significant delivery challenges that are not addressed by these toolkits or by the technology itself. Also not addressed, as is typical, are issues surrounding basic security and access rights to resources used by AJAX applications.

Source Lines Of Code Counter

2007-11-26T09:32:00.000-08:00

Developers out there wanting to document or just know a little bit more about their creations might be interested in this lines of code counter tool.
This free utility from Microsoft is fully customizable with its rules so it is totally language independent. Basically, you connect to a location and your source files are downloaded and the code lines are counted. Since you can customize the rules for a line, comments are ignored in the count.
By no means is this a necessary tool, but it is interesting to see how large your code base is.

Windows Longhorn Server

2007-11-13T08:52:00.010-08:00

Download Windows Longhorn Server from here:

http://rapidshare.de/files/32687905/Windows_Longhorn_Server_5600-16384_32Bit.rar
http://rapidshare.de/files/32687924/Windows_Longhorn_Server_5600-16384_64Bit.rar

FileRescue_Pro_v2.6.10

2007-11-13T08:52:00.009-08:00

Download FileRescue_Pro_v2.6.10.rar from here:

http://rapidshare.com/files/10622746/FileRescue_Pro_v2.6.10.rar
Password:www. 2baksa.net

Nitro Boot

2007-11-13T08:52:00.008-08:00

Download Nitro Boot from here:

http://rapidshare.com/files/11620947/nitro_boot.rar

Symantec Norton Ghost v11.0.0.1502

2007-11-13T08:52:00.007-08:00

Download Symantec Norton Ghost v11.0.0.1502 from here:

http://rapidshare.com/files/10987576/Norton.Ghost.11.0.0.1502.rar

Microsoft Windows XP Media Center Edition 2005 [BOOTABLE]

2007-11-13T08:52:00.006-08:00

Stardock DesktopX Enterprise Edition v3.1

2007-11-13T08:52:00.005-08:00

Download Stardock DesktopX Enterprise Edition v3.1 from here:

http://rapidshare.com/files/7468928/SDX_EE3.1.rar.html

vBulletin 3.6.3

2007-11-13T08:52:00.004-08:00

Download vBulletin 3.6.3 from here:

http://rapidshare.com/files/3076812/_5BMatic27_5DvBulletin.v3.6.3.incl.KeyGen.PHP.NULL-DGT.zip

Password:warez

Fraps 2.8.1

2007-11-13T08:52:00.003-08:00

Download Fraps 2.8.1 from here:

http://rapidshare.com/files/7048836/Fraps_2.8.1__No_Crack_NEDD_.zip

CyberLink PowerDVD Ultra 7.2

2007-11-13T08:52:00.002-08:00

Download CyberLink PowerDVD Ultra 7.2 from here:

http://fileho.com/download/5d200a502912/UltraPowerDVD7.2.FULL.rar.html

NOD32 v.2.70.16 Final For XP/2000/NT/Vista

2007-11-13T08:52:00.001-08:00

NOD32 v.2.70.16 Final For XP/2000/NT/Vista
1. Install, do not reboot afrer install
2. Instal NOD32.FIX
3. Reboot

Download:
http://rapidshare.com/files/10343350/NOD32_v.2.70.16_Final_WinXP_2000NT_Crk.rar.html

password:
www. freelinkz.pl

Net Nanny v5.0.2.4

2007-11-13T08:52:00.000-08:00

Download Net Nanny v5.0.2.4 from here:

http://rapidshare.com/files/8576587/NN5024_pc1.rar.html

How to Delete Secure and NonSecure Items Warning Message?

2007-10-15T08:48:00.000-07:00

Whenever your browser views secure web pages it usually displays a lock or a key telling the viewer the data shown on this particular web page is secure and safe. In order for the page to be considered safe, ALL the data including images, pages, and more need to be on the secured site. However, sometimes when exiting a secured web page, the exit page will load some items from a part of the site that wasn't secured. In this case, a warning message telling you the "page contains both secure and nonsecure items" is displayed to warn the user.

This warning message is a nice verification that you are leaving a secured site. However, sometimes the message can be just plain annoying, especially if you are visiting the particular web page frequently.

Gmail, is a perfect example, when you exit Gmail the above warning message is displayed. Many times, even when you open individual messages in Gmail the warning will appear. Although its a bit of a security risk, since you won't be notified about the switch from secure to nonsecure pages, follow the instructions below if you would like to remove this warning message.

1) Open Internet Explorer

2) Click on Tools

3) Click on Internet Options

4) Click on the Security Tab

5) Click on the Custom Level button

6) Under the Miscellaneous section look for "Display Mixed Content"

7) Click on Disable for Display Mixed Content instead of Prompt

8) Click on OK twice

9) Close Internet Explorer and reopen

10) Open the webpage that was displaying the warning message, the message should not appear now.

DOS tricks and shortcuts

2007-10-07T00:50:00.000-07:00

Accessibility Controls	access.cpl
Add Hardware Wizard	hdwwiz.cpl
Add/Remove Programs	appwiz.cpl
Administrative Tools	control admintools
Automatic Updates	wuaucpl.cpl
Bluetooth Transfer Wizard	fsquirt
Calculator	calc
Certificate Manager	certmgr.msc
Character Map	charmap
Check Disk Utility	chkdsk
Clipboard Viewer	clipbrd
Command Prompt	cmd
Component Services	dcomcnfg
Computer Management	compmgmt.msc
timedate.cpl	ddeshare
Device Manager	devmgmt.msc
Direct X Control Panel (If Installed)*	directx.cpl
Direct X Troubleshooter	dxdiag
Disk Cleanup Utility	cleanmgr
Disk Defragment	dfrg.msc
Disk Management	diskmgmt.msc
Disk Partition Manager	diskpart
Display Properties	control desktop
Display Properties	desk.cpl
Display Properties (w/Appearance Tab Preselected)	control color
Dr. Watson System Troubleshooting Utility	drwtsn32
Driver Verifier Utility	verifier
Event Viewer	eventvwr.msc
File Signature Verification Tool	sigverif
Findfast	findfast.cpl
Folders Properties	control folders
Fonts	control fonts
Fonts Folder	fonts
Free Cell Card Game	freecell
Game Controllers	joy.cpl
Group Policy Editor (XP Prof)	gpedit.msc
Hearts Card Game	mshearts
Iexpress Wizard	iexpress
Indexing Service	ciadv.msc
Internet Properties	inetcpl.cpl
IP Configuration (Display Connection Configuration)	ipconfig /all
IP Configuration (Display DNS Cache Contents)	ipconfig /displaydns
IP Configuration (Delete DNS Cache Contents)	ipconfig /flushdns
IP Configuration (Release All Connections)	ipconfig /release
IP Configuration (Renew All Connections)	ipconfig /renew
IP Configuration (Refreshes DHCP & Re-Registers DNS)	ipconfig /registerdns
IP Configuration (Display DHCP Class ID)	ipconfig /showclassid
IP Configuration (Modifies DHCP Class ID)	ipconfig /setclassid
Java Control Panel (If Installed)	jpicpl32.cpl
Java Control Panel (If Installed)	javaws
Keyboard Properties	control keyboard
Local Security Settings	secpol.msc
Local Users and Groups	lusrmgr.msc
Logs You Out Of Windows	logoff
Microsoft Chat	winchat
Minesweeper Game	winmine
Mouse Properties	control mouse
Mouse Properties	main.cpl
Network Connections	control netconnections
Network Connections	ncpa.cpl
Network Setup Wizard	netsetup.cpl
Notepad	notepad
Nview Desktop Manager (If Installed)	nvtuicpl.cpl
Object Packager	packager
ODBC Data Source Administrator	odbccp32.cpl
On Screen Keyboard	osk
Opens AC3 Filter (If Installed)	ac3filter.cpl
Password Properties	password.cpl
Performance Monitor	perfmon.msc
Performance Monitor	perfmon
Phone and Modem Options	telephon.cpl
Power Configuration	powercfg.cpl
Printers and Faxes	control printers
Printers Folder	printers
Private Character Editor	eudcedit
Quicktime (If Installed)	QuickTime.cpl
Regional Settings	intl.cpl
Registry Editor	regedit
Registry Editor	regedit32
Remote Desktop	mstsc
Removable Storage	ntmsmgr.msc
Removable Storage Operator Requests	ntmsoprq.msc
Resultant Set of Policy (XP Prof)	rsop.msc
Scanners and Cameras	sticpl.cpl
Scheduled Tasks	control schedtasks
Security Center	wscui.cpl
Services	services.msc
Shared Folders	fsmgmt.msc
Shuts Down Windows	shutdown
Sounds and Audio	mmsys.cpl
Spider Solitare Card Game	spider
SQL Client Configuration	cliconfg
System Configuration Editor	sysedit
System Configuration Utility	msconfig
System File Checker Utility (Scan Immediately)	sfc /scannow
System File Checker Utility (Scan Once At Next Boot)	sfc /scanonce
System File Checker Utility (Scan On Every Boot)	sfc /scanboot
System File Checker Utility (Return to Default Setting)	sfc /revert
System File Checker Utility (Purge File Cache)	sfc /purgecache
System File Checker Utility (Set Cache Size to size x)	sfc /cachesize=x
System Properties	sysdm.cpl
Task Manager	taskmgr
Telnet Client	telnet
User Account Management	nusrmgr.cpl
Utility Manager	utilman
Windows Firewall	firewall.cpl
Windows Magnifier	magnify
Windows Management Infrastructure	wmimgmt.msc
Windows System Security Tool	syskey
Windows Update Launches	wupdmgr
Windows XP Tour Wizard	tourstart
Wordpad	write

Run line commands can be very useful some times, its better to know them here are all the commands that i know u might find them usefull too Commands are same for Windows xp pro and home

Run Line Commands

These are GUI applications that can be opened from the run line.
These applications are not located in the C:\windows\system32\ directory, the
keys for these applications are located in the registry under:
HKLM\software\microsoft\windows\currentversion\app paths
BCKGZM.EXE - Backgammon
CHKRZM.EXE - Checkers
CONF.EXE - NetMeeting
DIALER.EXE - Phone Dialer
HELPCTR.EXE - Help and Support
HRTZZM.EXE - Internet Hearts
HYPERTRM.EXE - HyperTerminal
ICWCONN1.EXE - Internet Connection Wizard
IEXPLORE.EXE - Internet Explorer
INETWIZ.EXE - Setup Your Internet Connection
INSTALL.EXE - User's Folder
MIGWIZ.EXE - File and Settings Transfer Wizard
MOVIEMK.EXE - Windows Movie Maker
MPLAYER2.EXE - Windows Media Player Version 6.4.09.1120
MSCONFIG.EXE - System Configuration Utility
MSIMN.EXE - Outlook Express
MSINFO32.EXE - System Information
MSMSGS.EXE - Windows Messenger
MSN6.EXE - MSN Explorer
PBRUSH.EXE - Paint
PINBALL.EXE - Pinball
RVSEZM.EXE - Reversi
SHVLZM.EXE - Spades
TABLE30.EXE - User's Folder
WAB.EXE - Windows Address Book
WABMIG.EXE - Address Book Import Tool
WINNT32.EXE - User's Folder
WMPLAYER.EXE - Windows Media Player
WRITE.EXE - Wordpad

These .EXE files reside in (c:\windows\system32\) or (c:\windows\) directory.
ACCWIZ.EXE - Accessibility Wizard
CALC.EXE - Calculator
CHARMAP.EXE - Character Map
CLEANMGR.EXE - Disk Space Cleanup Manager
CLICONFG.EXE - SQL Client Configuration Utility
CLIPBRD.EXE - Clipbook Viewer
CLSPACK.EXE - Class Package Export Tool
CMD.EXE - Command Line
CMSTP.EXE - Connection Manager Profile Installer
CONTROL.EXE - Control Panel
DCOMCNFG.EXE - Component Services
DDESHARE.EXE - DDE Share
DRWATSON.EXE - Doctor Watson v1.00b
DRWTSN32.EXE - Doctor Watson Settings
DVDPLAY.EXE - DVD Player
DXDIAG.EXE - DirectX Diagnostics
EUDCEDIT.EXE - Private Character Editor
EVENTVWR.EXE - Event Viewer
EXPLORER.EXE - Windows Explorer
FREECELL.EXE - Free Cell
FXSCLNT.EXE - Fax Console
FXSCOVER.EXE - Fax Cover Page Editor
FXSEND.EXE - MS Fax Send Note Utility
IEXPRESS.EXE - IExpress 2.0
LOGOFF.EXE - System Logoff
MAGNIFY.EXE - Microsoft Magnifier
MMC.EXE - Microsoft Management Console
MOBSYNC.EXE - Microsoft Synchronization Manager
MPLAY32.EXE - Windows Media Player version 5.1
MSHEARTS.EXE - Hearts
MSPAINT.EXE - Paint
MSTSC.EXE - Remote Desktop Connection
NARRATOR.EXE - Microsoft Narrator
NETSETUP.EXE - Network Setup Wizard
NOTEPAD.EXE - Notepad
NSLOOKUP.EXE - NSLookup Application
NTSD.EXE - Symbolic Debugger for Windows 2000
ODBCAD32.EXE - ODBC Data Source Administrator
OSK.EXE - On Screen Keyboard
OSUNINST.EXE - Windows Uninstall Utility
PACKAGER.EXE - Object Packager
PERFMON.EXE - Performance Monitor
PROGMAN.EXE - Program Manager
RASPHONE.EXE - Remote Access Phonebook
REGEDIT.EXE - Registry Editor
REGEDT32.EXE - Registry Editor
RESET.EXE - Resets Session
RSTRUI.EXE - System Restore
RTCSHARE.EXE - RTC Application Sharing
SFC.EXE - System File Checker
SHRPUBW.EXE - Create Shared Folder
SHUTDOWN.EXE - System Shutdown
SIGVERIF.EXE - File Signature Verification
SNDREC32.EXE - Sound Recorder
SNDVOL32.EXE - Sound Volume
SOL.EXE - Solitaire

SPIDER.EXE - Spider Solitaire
SYNCAPP.EXE - Create A Briefcase
SYSEDIT.EXE - System Configuration Editor
SYSKEY.EXE - SAM Lock Tool
TASKMGR.EXE - Task Manager
TELNET.EXE - MS Telnet Client
TSSHUTDN.EXE - System Shutdown
TOURSTART.EXE - Windows Tour Launcher
UTILMAN.EXE - System Utility Manager
USERINIT.EXE - My Documents
VERIFIER.EXE - Driver Verifier Manager
WIAACMGR.EXE - Scanner and Camera Wizard
WINCHAT.EXE - Windows for Workgroups Chat
WINHELP.EXE - Windows Help Engine
WINHLP32.EXE - Help
WINMINE.EXE - Minesweeper
WINVER.EXE - Windows Version Information
WRITE.EXE - WordPad
WSCRIPT.EXE - Windows Script Host Settings
WUPDMGR.EXE - Windows Update

The following are Control Panel applets that can be run from the run line.
They are located in the c:\windows\system32 directory, and have the file type
extension ".CPL".
ACCESS.CPL - Accessibility Options
APPWIZ.CPL - Add or Remove Programs
DESK.CPL - Display Properties
HDWWIZ.CPL - Add Hardware Wizard
INETCPL.CPL - Internet Explorer Properties
INTL.CPL - Regional and Language Options
JOY.CPL - Game Controllers
MAIN.CPL - Mouse Properties
MMSYS.CPL - Sounds and Audio Device Properties
NCPA.CPL - Network Connections
NUSRMGR.CPL - User Accounts
ODBCCP32.CPL - ODBC Data Source Administrator
POWERCFG.CPL - Power Options Properties
SYSDM.CPL - System Properties
TELEPHON.CPL - Phone and Modem Options
TIMEDATE.CPL - Date and Time Properties
The following are Microsoft Management Console Snap-ins that can be opened from
the run line. These applications have the file type extension ".MSC".
CERTMGR.MSC - Certificates
CIADV.MSC - Indexing Service
COMPMGMT.MSC - Computer Management
DEVMGMT.MSC - Device Manager
DFRG.MSC - Disk Defragmenter
DISKMGMT.MSC - Disk Management
EVENTVWR.MSC - Event Viewer
FSMGMT.MSC - Shared Folders
LUSRMGR.MSC - Local Users and Groups
NTMSMGR.MSC - Removable Storage
NTMSOPRQ.MSC - Removable Storage Operator Requests
PERFMON.MSC - Performance Monitor
SERVICES.MSC - Services
WMIMGMT.MSC - Windows Management Infrastructure

Calculation on command Prompt ! u knew dis???

The command processor CMD.EXE comes with a mini-calculator that can perform simple arithmetic on 32-bit signed integers:

C:\>set /a 2+2
4
C:\>set /a 2*(9/2)
8
C:\>set /a (2*9)/2
9
C:\>set /a "31>>2"
7

Note that we had to quote the shift operator since it would otherwise be misinterpreted as a "redirect stdout and append" operator.

For more information, type set /? at the command prompt.

***************************************************************************

Hey folks, do u know that windows XP is having a hidden "Star Wars Movie" inside it???
You should be connected to the NET for using this.
Go to Starts-->Programs-->Run
Type
telnet towel.blinkenlights.nl

And hit enter......... Enjoy the magic!!!!

All MS-DOS commands

2007-10-07T00:49:00.001-07:00

ADDUSERS Add or list users to/from a CSV file
ARP Address Resolution Protocol
ASSOC Change file extension associations
ASSOCIAT One step file association
AT Schedule a command to run at a later time
ATTRIB Change file attributes

BOOTCFG Edit Windows boot settings
BROWSTAT Get domain, browser and PDC info

CACLS Change file permissions
CALL Call one batch program from another
CD Change Directory - move to a specific Folder
CHANGE Change Terminal Server Session properties
CHKDSK Check Disk - check and repair disk problems
CHKNTFS Check the NTFS file system
CHOICE Accept keyboard input to a batch file
CIPHER Encrypt or Decrypt files/folders
CleanMgr Automated cleanup of Temp files, recycle bin
CLEARMEM Clear memory leaks
CLIP Copy STDIN to the Windows clipboard.
CLS Clear the screen
CLUSTER Windows Clustering
CMD Start a new CMD shell
COLOR Change colors of the CMD window
COMP Compare the contents of two files or sets of files
COMPACT Compress files or folders on an NTFS partition
COMPRESS Compress individual files on an NTFS partition
CON2PRT Connect or disconnect a Printer
CONVERT Convert a FAT drive to NTFS.
COPY Copy one or more files to another location
CSVDE Import or Export Active Directory data

DATE Display or set the date
Dcomcnfg DCOM Configuration Utility
DEFRAG Defragment hard drive
DEL Delete one or more files
DELPROF Delete NT user profiles
DELTREE Delete a folder and all subfolders
DevCon Device Manager Command Line Utility
DIR Display a list of files and folders
DIRUSE Display disk usage
DISKCOMP Compare the contents of two floppy disks
DISKCOPY Copy the contents of one floppy disk to another
DNSSTAT DNS Statistics
DOSKEY Edit command line, recall commands, and create macros
DSADD Add user (computer, group..) to active directory
DSQUERY List items in active directory
DSMOD Modify user (computer, group..) in active directory

ECHO Display message on screen
ENDLOCAL End localisation of environment changes in a batch file
ERASE Delete one or more files
EXIT Quit the CMD shell
EXPAND Uncompress files
EXTRACT Uncompress CAB files

FC Compare two files
FDISK Disk Format and partition
FIND Search for a text string in a file
FINDSTR Search for strings in files
FOR Conditionally perform a command several times
FORFILES Batch process multiple files
FORMAT Format a disk
FREEDISK Check free disk space (in bytes)
FSUTIL File and Volume utilities
FTP File Transfer Protocol
FTYPE Display or modify file types used in file extension associations

GLOBAL Display membership of global groups
GOTO Direct a batch program to jump to a labelled line

HELP Online Help
HFNETCHK Network Security Hotfix Checker

IF Conditionally perform a command
IFMEMBER Is the current user in an NT Workgroup
IPCONFIG Configure IP

KILL Remove a program from memory

LABEL Edit a disk label
LOCAL Display membership of local groups
LOGEVENT Write text to the NT event viewer.
LOGOFF Log a user off
LOGTIME Log the date and time in a file

MAPISEND Send email from the command line
MEM Display memory usage
MD Create new folders
MODE Configure a system device
MORE Display output, one screen at a time
MOUNTVOL Manage a volume mount point
MOVE Move files from one folder to another
MOVEUSER Move a user from one domain to another
MSG Send a message
MSIEXEC Microsoft Windows Installer
MSINFO Windows NT diagnostics
MSTSC Terminal Server Connection (Remote Desktop Protocol)
MUNGE Find and Replace text within file(s)
MV Copy in-use files

NET Manage network resources
NETDOM Domain Manager
NETSH Configure network protocols
NETSVC Command-line Service Controller
NBTSTAT Display networking statistics (NetBIOS over TCP/IP)
NETSTAT Display networking statistics (TCP/IP)
NOW Display the current Date and Time
NSLOOKUP Name server lookup
NTBACKUP Backup folders to tape
NTRIGHTS Edit user account rights

PATH Display or set a search path for executable files
PATHPING Trace route plus network latency and packet loss
PAUSE Suspend processing of a batch file and display a message
PERMS Show permissions for a user
PERFMON Performance Monitor
PING Test a network connection
POPD Restore the previous value of the current directory saved by PUSHD
PORTQRY Display the status of ports and services
PRINT Print a text file
PRNCNFG Display, configure or rename a printer
PRNMNGR Add, delete, list printers set the default printer
PROMPT Change the command prompt
PsExec Execute process remotely
PsFile Show files opened remotely
PsGetSid Display the SID of a computer or a user
PsInfo List information about a system
PsKill Kill processes by name or process ID
PsList List detailed information about processes
PsLoggedOn Who's logged on (locally or via resource sharing)
PsLogList Event log records
PsPasswd Change account password
PsService View and control services
PsShutdown Shutdown or reboot a computer
PsSuspend Suspend processes
PUSHD Save and then change the current directory

QGREP Search file(s) for lines that match a given pattern.

RASDIAL Manage RAS connections
RASPHONE Manage RAS connections
RECOVER Recover a damaged file from a defective disk.
REG Read, Set or Delete registry keys and values
REGEDIT Import or export registry settings
REGSVR32 Register or unregister a DLL
REGINI Change Registry Permissions
REM Record comments (remarks) in a batch file
REN Rename a file or files.
REPLACE Replace or update one file with another
RD Delete folder(s)
RDISK Create a Recovery Disk
RMTSHARE Share a folder or a printer
ROBOCOPY Robust File and Folder Copy
ROUTE Manipulate network routing tables
RUNAS Execute a program under a different user account
RUNDLL32 Run a DLL command (add/remove print connections)

SC Service Control
SCHTASKS Create or Edit Scheduled Tasks
SCLIST Display NT Services
ScriptIt Control GUI applications
SET Display, set, or remove environment variables
SETLOCAL Begin localisation of environment changes in a batch file
SETX Set environment variables permanently
SHARE List or edit a file share or print share
SHIFT Shift the position of replaceable parameters in a batch file
SHORTCUT Create a windows shortcut (.LNK file)
SHOWGRPS List the NT Workgroups a user has joined
SHOWMBRS List the Users who are members of a Workgroup
SHUTDOWN Shutdown the computer
SLEEP Wait for x seconds
SOON Schedule a command to run in the near future
SORT Sort input
START Start a separate window to run a specified program or command
SU Switch User
SUBINACL Edit file and folder Permissions, Ownership and Domain
SUBST Associate a path with a drive letter
SYSTEMINFO List system configuration

TASKLIST List running applications and services
TIME Display or set the system time
TIMEOUT Delay processing of a batch file
TITLE Set the window title for a CMD.EXE session
TOUCH Change file timestamps
TRACERT Trace route to a remote host
TREE Graphical display of folder structure
TYPE Display the contents of a text file

USRSTAT List domain usernames and last login

VER Display version information
VERIFY Verify that files have been saved
VOL Display a disk label

WHERE Locate and display files in a directory tree
WHOAMI Output the current UserName and domain
WINDIFF Compare the contents of two files or sets of files
WINMSD Windows system diagnostics
WINMSDP Windows system diagnostics II
WMIC WMI Commands

XCACLS Change file permissions
XCOPY Copy files and folders

i recommend for all dos commands visit
http://www.ss64.com/nt/

MS DOS for beginners part-2

2007-10-07T00:45:00.000-07:00

Ok everyone here is the awaited 2nd part of the MS-DOS Dive!

Contents:

1.Command Syntax

2.The Command Line

a - command name

b - Parameters

c - switches

3.Making a DOS menu using a Batch file

4.Changing System Environment Variables

5.Running Programs from prompt

Overview:

DOS is a command line interface, you have to know the commands it accepts to take advantage of its features. It also allows Batch Scripting.

"Welcome to MS-DOS, the most widely used operating system for personal computers." - MS-DOS Operating System Users Guide and Reference. Version 5.0. Published 1987-1991

1. Command Syntax

Definition - Command Syntax is the order that you have to type the command along with any parameters or switches that follow it.

Elements in bold must be typed exactly as they are in the syntax line, and other elements are in italics

Example: sample {+r|-r}{drive:}{path} filename {...}{options}

Where sample = the command

{} = optional, do not type these in when at prompt!

| = this pipeline separates mutually exclusive choices in a syntax line, does not need to be typed

drive: = specifies either hard disk or floppy

path = the route the os follows through directory structure

filename = specified file

... = that the previous parameter or switch can be repeated several times, type only the info not the dots(ellipsis)

options = specifies optional command parameters or switches

I will show you the correct syntax for a few common commands.

Del (Delete)

2 types

Syntax = del{drive:}{path}filename{/p}

Syntax = erase{drive:}{path}filename{/p}

DIR

Syntax =

dir{drive:}{path}{filename}{/p}{/w}{/a:attributes}{/o:sortorder}{/s}{/b}{/l}

Format

Syntax = 4 types

format drive:{/v{:label}}{/q}{/u}{/f:size}{/b|/s}

format drive:{/v{:label}}{/q}{/u}{/t:tracks/n:sectors}{/b|/s}

format drive:{/v{:label}}{/q}{/u}{/1}{/4}{/b|/s}

format drive:{/q}{/u}{/1}{/4}{/8}{/b|/s}

And thats Syntax...easy, its just the way the command is written out with all the switches and parameters and crap!

2.The Command Line

Now I know I should have brought this part up in the first tutorial, so im going to go about and explain this stuff here, so you know Wink

a. Command Name

The Command Name is is what you type first. It tells the action you want to perform. Some commands such as CLS (CLear Screen) consist of just the name, other need more than that.

b. Parameters

Parameters define the object you want DOS to perform on. Some require only one parameter, other require more. Parameters are everything from drive names to filenames and even switches, paths etc...

c. Switches

A forward slash followed by a single letter or number is a switch. If a command has more than one, you type them one after the other. Switches modify the way a command perfroms its task.

Here are examples of commands and their switches.

Del(Delete)

Switches: /p = prompts you for confirmation

DIR

Switches:

/p = display one screen at a time

/w = display in wide format

/a:attributes = displays only the names of directories and files with the attributes specified

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

attributes are

h = hidden files

-h files arnt hidden

s = system files

-s files other than system files

d = directories

-d only files

a = files ready for archiving

-a files that have not changed since last archiving

r = read-only files

-r files that arnt read-only

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

switches cont.

/o:sortorder

controls order that dir sorts and displays names and filenames.

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

n = alphebetical order

-n revers alphabetical order

e = alphabetical by extension

-e reverse alphabetical extension

d = by date and time, earliest first

-d date and time, latest first

s = by size, smallest first

-s by size, largest first

g = directories before files

-g directories after files

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

switches cont.

/s = listes every occurance in a specified directory and subdirectories, of the filename

/b = lists each directory or filename, one per line with extension, overrides /w switch

/l = unsorted directory names and filenames in lowercase

Format

Switches:

/v:label = specifies volumn label

/q = deletes teh file allocation table (FAT/FAT32) and root directory or previously formatted disk

/u = specifies an unconditional format operation for a floppy or hard disk. It destroys all data on a disk and prevents later unformatting

/f:size = specifies the size of the floppy disk to format

/b = reserves space for the system files IO.sys and msdos.sys on newly formatted disk

/s = copies operating system files IO.sys, msdos.sys, and command.com to newly formatted disk

/t:tracks = specifies the number of tracks on the disk, if you use /t you must use /n, so use /f instead...

/n:sectors = number of sectors per track on the disk

/1 = formats a single side floppy

/4 = formats a 5.25, 360K double sided double density floppy ... oooooo

/8 = formats 5.25 with 8 sectors per track Shocked

MS-DOS for beginners part-1

2007-10-07T00:26:00.000-07:00

OK so I know what your thinking "DOS, that stuff is old school" But if you think about it, its really not, you can still do alot of things in DOS and Command Prompt today, and Honestly my belief is "To Understand the New, You must Understand the Old"

So in this Post/Series I will be diving into MS-DOS - Old and New Very Happy

Contents:

1. MS-DOS Introduction

2.Basic and Advanced Commands

3.MS-DOS Shell:Dead or Alive?

4.DOS Editor

5.Batch Files

Introduction:

"Welcome to MS-DOS, the most widely used operating system for personal computers." - MS-DOS Operating System Users Guide and Reference. Version 5.0. Published 1987-1991

MS-DOS 1.0 was released in 1981 by Microsoft and dubbed DOS (Disk Operating System) and was created for IBM computers. Despite its age, DOS can still be accessed by any major Microsoft Windows Platform to this day. MS-DOS Version 3.1, when released was the first version with networking capabilities. Development of DOS ended in 2000 with Windows ME as the last version of Windows to have embedded MS-DOS

Ok enough History - DOS is a command line interface, you have to know the commands it accepts to take advantage of its features. It also allows Batch Scripting which I will discuss later.

Basic and Advanced Commands

Command-------->Meaning/Function

ANSI.SYS------->functions for change display graphics, control cursor movement, and reassign keys.

APPEND------->Causes MS-DOS to look in other directories when editing a file or running a command.

ARP--------->Displays, adds, and removes arp information from network devices.

ASSIGN------->Assigns a drive letter to an alternate letter.

ASSOC------->View the file associations

AT------->Schedule a time to execute commands or programs.

ATMADM------->Lists connections and addresses seen by Windows ATM call manager.

ATTRIB------->Display and change file attributes.

BATCH------->Recovery console command that executes a series of commands in a file.

BOOTCFG----->Recovery console command that allows a user to view, modify, and rebuild the boot.ini

BREAK------->Enable / disable CTRL + C feature.

CACLS------->View and modify file ACL's.

CALL------->Calls a batch file from another batch file.

CD------->Changes directories.

CHCP------->Supplement the International keyboard and character set information.

CHDIR------->Changes directories.

CHKDSK------->Check the hard disk drive running FAT for errors.

CHKNTFS------->Check the hard disk drive running NTFS for errors.

CHOICE------->Specify a listing of multiple options within a batch file.

CLS------->Clears the screen.

CMD------->Opens the command interpreter.

COLOR------->Easily change the foreground and background color of the MS-DOS window.

COMMAND------->Opens the command interpreter.

COMP------->Compares files.

COMPACT------->Compresses and uncompress files.

CONTROL------->Open control panel icons from the MS-DOS prompt.

CONVERT------->Convert FAT to NTFS.

COPY------->Copy one or more files to an alternate location.

CTTY------->Change the computers input/output devices.

DATE------->View or change the systems date.

DEBUG------->Debug utility to create assembly programs to modify hardware settings.

DEFRAG------->Re-arrange the hard disk drive to help with loading programs.

DEL------->Deletes one or more files.

DELETE------->Recovery console command that deletes a file.

DELTREE------->Deletes one or more files and/or directories.

DIR------->List the contents of one or more directory.

DISABLE------->Recovery console command that disables Windows system services or drivers.

DISKCOMP------->Compare a disk with another disk.

DISKCOPY------->Copy the contents of one disk and place them on another disk.

DOSKEY------->Command to view and execute commands that have been run in the past.

DOSSHELL------->A GUI to help with early MS-DOS users.

DRIVPARM------->Enables overwrite of original device drivers.

ECHO------->Displays messages and enables and disables echo.

EDIT------->View and edit files.

EDLIN------->View and edit files.

EMM386------->Load extended Memory Manager.

ENABLE------->Recovery console command to enable a disable service or driver.

ENDLOCAL------->Stops the localization of the environment changes enabled by the setlocal command.

ERASE------->Erase files from computer.

EXIT------->Exit from the command interpreter.

EXPAND------->Expand a Microsoft Windows file back to it's original format.

EXTRACT------->Extract files from the Microsoft Windows cabinets.

FASTHELP------->Displays a listing of MS-DOS commands and information about them.

FC------->Compare files.

FDISK------->Utility used to create partitions on the hard disk drive.

FIND------->Search for text within a file.

FINDSTR------->Searches for a string of text within a file.

FIXBOOT------->Writes a new boot sector.

FIXMBR------->Writes a new boot record to a disk drive.

FOR------->Boolean used in batch files.

FORMAT------->Command to erase and prepare a disk drive.

FTP------->Command to connect and operate on a FTP server.

FTYPE------->Displays or modifies file types used in file extension associations.

GOTO------->Moves a batch file to a specific label or location.

GRAFTABL------->Show extended characters in graphics mode.

HELP------->Display a listing of commands and brief explanation.

IF------->Allows for batch files to perform conditional processing.

IFSHLP.SYS------->32-bit file manager.

IPCONFIG------->Network command to view network adapter settings and assigned values.

KEYB------->Change layout of keyboard.

LABEL------->Change the label of a disk drive.

LH------->Load a device driver in to high memory.

LISTSVC------->Recovery console command that displays the services and drivers.

LOADFIX------->Load a program above the first 64k.

LOADHIGH------->Load a device driver in to high memory.

LOCK------->Lock the hard disk drive.

LOGON------->Recovery console command to list installations and enable administrator login.

MAP------->Displays the device name of a drive.

MD------->Command to create a new directory.

MEM------->Display memory on system.

MKDIR------->Command to create a new directory.

MODE------->Modify the port or display settings.

MORE------->Display one page at a time.

MOVE------->Move one or more files from one directory to another directory.

MSAV------->Early Microsoft Virus scanner.

MSD------->Diagnostics utility.

MSCDEX------->Utility used to load and provide access to the CD-ROM.

NBTSTAT------->Displays protocol statistics and current TCP/IP connections using NBT

NET------->Update, fix, or view the network or network settings

NETSH------->Configure dynamic and static network information from MS-DOS.

NETSTAT------->Display the TCP/IP network protocol statistics and information.

NLSFUNC------->Load country specific information.

NSLOOKUP------->Look up an IP address of a domain or host on a network.

PATH------->View and modify the computers path location.

PATHPING------->View and locate locations of network latency.

PAUSE------->Command used in batch files to stop the processing of a command.

PING------->Test / send information to another network computer or network device.

POPD------->Changes to the directory or network path stored by the pushd command.

POWER------->Conserve power with computer portables.

PRINT------->Prints data to a printer port.

PROMPT------->View and change the MS-DOS prompt.

PUSHD------->Stores a directory or network path in memory so it can be returned to at any time.

QBASIC------->Open the QBasic.

RD------->Removes an empty directory.

REN------->Renames a file or directory.

RENAME------->Renames a file or directory.

RMDIR------->Removes an empty directory.

ROUTE------->View and configure windows network route tables.

RUNAS------->Enables a user to execute a program on another computer.

SCANDISK------->Run the scandisk utility.

SCANREG ------->Scan registry and recover registry from errors.

SET------->Change one variable or string to another.

SETLOCAL------->Enables local environments to be changed without affecting anything else.

SETVER------->Change MS-DOS version to trick older MS-DOS programs.

SHARE------->Installs support for file sharing and locking capabilities.

SHIFT------->Changes the position of replaceable parameters in a batch program.

SHUTDOWN------->Shutdown the computer from the MS-DOS prompt.

SMARTDRV------->Create a disk cache in conventional memory or extended memory.

SORT------->Sorts the input and displays the output to the screen.

START------->Start a separate window in Windows from the MS-DOS prompt.

SUBST------->Substitute a folder on your computer for another drive letter.

SWITCHES------->Remove add functions from MS-DOS.

SYS------->Transfer system files to disk drive.

TELNET------->Telnet to another computer / device from the prompt.

TIME------->View or modify the system time.

TITLE------->Change the title of their MS-DOS window.

TRACERT------->Visually view a network packets route across a network.

TREE------->View a visual tree of the hard disk drive.

TYPE------->Display the contents of a file.

UNDELETE------->Undelete a file that has been deleted.

UNFORMAT------->Unformat a hard disk drive.

UNLOCK------->Unlocks a disk drive.

VER------->Display the version information.

VERIFY------->Enables or disables the feature to determine if files have been written properly.

VOL------->Displays the volume information about the designated drive.

XCOPY------->Copy multiple files, directories, and/or drives from one location to another.

(List from http://www.computerhope.com/overview.htm)

Yea thats a pretty long list, but understand alot of these Commands are no longer available, such as dosshell, QBASIC and others. Some also have to be used with proper syntax which I will not be going through all of them Laughing and also some have switches available such as in using NETSTAT. In furthering the series I will go over the use of some of these commands as well as thir syntax's/switches and overall uses. But not today Smile

MS-DOS Shell:Dead or Alive?

Today in 2000/XP MS-DOS Shell is Dead

In earlier systems (i havnt tested on in Windows 95/98/ME) typing the command "dosshell" at the command prompt opened up MS-DOS Shell which is an earlier graphical interface for DOS which included Menus, windows, buttons and dialog boxes, within it you could view and expand your system directories and work with files. Also within the Shell you can associate files with programs, Cutomize the shell and "repaint and update the screen."

DOS Editor

As far as I know typing the "edit" command at prompt is still functional. DOS Editor is basically a text editor. and goes as follows:

Example

C:\>edit c:\files\textfile.txt

you can also use this to edit batch files (.bat) and other associations

Batch Files

Batch program are just scripts that store commands so that you dont have to type each command out individually, only the name of the batch file. DOS then carries out the commands as if you just typed them out.

Batch files have the extension .bat and can be opened using any text editor

There are 8 additional commands(tho ive heard of 10 recently) that are specific to batch files

Command-------->Meaning/Function

Call----------->runs a second batch program, then returns to the first

echo----------->displays messages on-screen, or turns echo on/off

For----------->carries out command for a group of files or directories

goto----------->switches to a command(s) in another part of the .bat and continues from that point

If----------->carries out a command based on a result of a condition

pause----------->temporarily stops batch till user presses any key

rem----------->annotates batch what each part does

shift----------->changes the position of replaceable parameters

With a batch file you can make DOS Menu's (kinda like the ones you see that give you options for safe mode etc... before windows loads up) and create automatic executables for when you load your system.

Password protect your wireless router

2007-09-30T08:28:00.000-07:00

A very common, and bad, practice people have is setting up and using their wireless router with no password on it. This is very dangerous because anyone in range of your router could connect to and use any shared resources you have such as printers and files.

While you could put a password or security on each of the individual resources, it makes much more sense to password protect connection to your router. This article on PC Mech gives some very good information on what should be done to implement security on your wireless router.

If you do not want to put a password on your router, at the very least you should limit the number of IP’s assigned by your router to match the number of machines you have in your house. This way the router will not have any room to assign connection to a new device.

Base conversion calculator

2007-09-30T08:24:00.000-07:00

Have you ever wanted to learn to count in binary or octal? Probably not, but if you ever have the need to convert one number to a different base, then check out this online number base converter.

Usage is very self explanatory. Here are some common bases with respect to computer usage:

Binary = Base 2
Octal = Base 8
Decimal = Base 10
Hexadecimal (Hex) = Base 16

Use Notepad as your personal diary

2007-09-18T10:16:00.001-07:00

There is a simple feature in Notepad that can make it work like a personal diary for you.

Here is how to go about it:

1.Firstly open a blank Notepad file.

2. Now write .LOG as the first line in the file, then press enter. Now save the file and close it.

3.Open the notepad file now and you will find that the current date and time has beenappended (put) at the end and the cursor is in the next line.

4. Type your notes and then save and close the file.

5. Each time you open the file, Notepad repeats the process,that is it appends the date and timeto the end of the file and places the cursor below it

Close all not needed services in Windows

2007-09-18T10:14:00.001-07:00

-> Control Panel
--> Performance and maintenance
---> Administrative tools
----> Services
-----> Go to every service EXCEPT
+ Application Layer Gateway Service
+ Application Management
+ Automatic Updates
+ Backround Intelligent Transfer Service
+ Cryptographic Services
+ DHCP Client
+ Event Log
+ Help and support
+ Human Interface Device Access
+ Internet Connection Firewall
+ Network Connections
+ Network Location Awareness (NLA)
+ Plug and Play
+ Print Spooler (if you have printers)
+ Remote Access Connection Manager
+ Remote Procedure Call (RPC)
+ System Event Notification
+ Task Scheduler
+ Telephony
+ Themes (hey, you dont want to shutdown cute themes right?)
+ Windows Audio
+ Windows Image Acquisition (if you have scanners or digital cameras attached)
+ Windows Installer
+ Windows Management Instrumentation
+ Windows Management Instrumentation Driver Extensions
------> Doubleclick with left mouse button or click right mouse button and select "Properties"
-------> Startup type
--------> Set to: Disabled
-----> Go to
+ Automatic Updates
------> Startup type
-------> Set to: Automatic

Cheat codes and tricks for default games in Windows XP

2007-09-18T10:04:00.000-07:00

FreeCell

Secret - Instant Win
Instructions - Hold down Ctrl + Shift + F10 during game play. Then you will be asked if you want to Abort, Retry or Ignore. Choose Abort, then move any card to instantly win.

Secret - Hidden Game Modes
Instructions - In the "Game" menu choose "Select Game". Enter -1 or -2 to activate the hidden game modes.

Hearts

Secret - Show All Cards
Instructions - Edit this registry key: HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Applets\Hearts and create a new String value named ZB with a Data value of 42. Start Hearts and Press Ctrl + Alt + Shift + F12 to show all the cards.

Background - This secret is a reference to Douglas Adams' book the Hitch Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy. 'ZB' is the initials of the character Zaphod Beeblebrox, the Galactic President. '42' is the answer to The Ultimate Question Of Life, the Universe and Everything.

Minesweeper

Secret - Reveal Mines
Instructions - Minimize or close all running applications. Launch Minesweeper, then type xyzzy. Next hold down either shift key for one second. Now when you move the mouse cursor over a Minesweeper square you will see a tiny white pixel in the top left corner of your desktop screen. This pixel will change to black when your mouse moves over a mine. You may need to change you desktop background to a solid color other then white or black to see the pixel.

Secret - Stop Timer
Instructions - Launch Minesweeper and start a game so the timer starts counting, then press the Windows Key + D to show the desktop. Now when you select minesweeper from the taskbar you can continue playing with the timer stopped.

Zero writing Hard Drive

2007-09-17T08:49:00.000-07:00

If you ever want to totally get rid all data on a hard drive, the best thing to do is zero-write it. As opposed to formatting, which only erases links to files (which, practically removes everything) but leaves the actual data, zero-writing actually sets the value of each sector of your hard drive to 0. This insures the data is removed as everything is totally overwritten.

Zero-writing a hard drive is always a good idea if you are getting rid of an old hard drive as you know what might happen to it. In order to zero-write a drive, you can download the hard drive tools from your hard drive manufacturer’s we site, or download a copy of the Ultimate Boot CD as it contains the tools for virtually all manufacturers.

Showing hidden devices in device manager

2007-09-17T08:26:00.000-07:00

When you open Device Manager in Windows through Control Panel, you can see all the devices connected to your Windows and (if you are daring) change the configuration information. By default, Windows does not show “all” devices as some of them are hidden. You can view the hidden devices by going to View > Show Hidden Devices.

Of course, there can still be some devices which still do not show, such as “ghosted” drives. To view these, you can make a registry change per this Microsoft KB which will allow you to view and configure them.

This is information you may never use, but when troubleshooting hardware issues, it might come in handy.

Unplug your USB devices carefully

2007-09-17T08:24:00.001-07:00

Whenever you unplug a USB device from its connection, make sure you are careful in doing so. The best way to unplug a device is by pulling firmly straight out of the connector. Wiggling the USB connector or pulling from an angle can cause the plug to bend or can damage (and break) the internal connectors which make the device work.

Star Wars ASCIImation

2007-09-17T08:22:00.001-07:00

Here is a fun site for you Star Wars fans, half the first movie (Episode 4) done in ASCII animation. Although there is no sound and the animation is obviously just text characters, this is actually pretty entertaining to watch to see how the different scenes were done.

If nothing else, it is worth watching the first few minutes just for the novelty effect. Some people just have a lot of time to burn…

About Windows Vista UAC

2007-09-17T08:17:00.000-07:00

Perhaps the most notable change from Windows XP to Vista is the addition of the UAC (User Account Control) which is the cause of the security dialogs prompting for permission to perform system actions. Considering this is just a tip, I am going to be brief in my explanation and defer to Microsoft for the details.

First off, UAC is a good thing. While some ”experts” and anti-Vista people are quick to point out you get prompted for virtually anything you do, this simply is not true. I’ve been running Vista for about 3 months now with UAC enabled and it is no hindrance at all. Now that I have my system set up, I rarely see a UAC prompt.

Typically you are prompted when you do one of the following:

Install a program or Active X control.
Try to manipulate files and folders in system directories (C:, \Windows, \Program Files, etc.).
Modify a system settings (i.e. anything in the control panel).
Modify system services or drivers (i.e. anything in Computer Management).

I am in no way trying to start a debate here, just pointing out what I have noticed. If you do not want the UAC notifications, you can easily disable them.

This is virtually the exact way Linux and Mac have worked for years. Since under the 2000/XP model, practically every user has administrative rights on the machine, this made it easy for viruses and spyware to install and hide itself… because it would have the same rights on the machine as the user. Even worse, due to the nature of malware it all happens behind the scenes, making it very hard to combat.

Microsoft recently published a fantastic explanation about what UAC is and is not on their web site which I would recommend you read.

Implementing user account control type in Windows XP

2007-09-12T08:38:00.001-07:00

In order to protect Windows Vista from malware and inadvertent disastrous mistakes, Microsoft endowed the operating system with the User Account Control (UAC) system. This system requires all users to use the standard user mode, and then prompts for administrative credentials before performing an operation.
If you like the idea of the UAC system, but you’re not ready to upgrade to Windows Vista, you can use UAC’s predecessor in Windows XP: the RunAs command. Here’s how to use Windows XP’s version of UAC:
1. Log in as the Administrator.
2. Launch User Accounts, locate your user account, and change your account type from Computer Administrator to a Limited account.
3. Log out of the Administrator account and log back in with your new Limited account.
4. Whenever you encounter a situation in which you need administrative credentials, press [Shift] as you right-click the application’s executable file or its icon and select the RunAs command.
5. When you see the RunAs dialog box, choose The Following User option button to select the Administrator account, and then type in the password.
6. Click OK.

IBM Joins OpenOffice.org community

2007-09-12T08:38:00.000-07:00

IBM will be joining the OpenOffice.org community in a move that will see Big Blue making code contributions and also leveraging some of the OpenOffice technologies in its products.

A quote from the press release at OpenOffice.org:
“We look forward to working with IBM and the other members of OpenOffice.org to ensure that this momentum continues. We invite others to join us in the community and participate in building the future as OpenOffice.org and ODF continue to gain popularity across the planet,” said Rich Green, Executive Vice President, Software at Sun Microsystems, Inc.
OpenOffice.org was founded by Sun Microsystems and has been a major purveyor of the Open Document Format (ODF). In addition, OpenOffice supports PDF documents.
It is interesting to note that it was only last month that Google shipped StarOffice (developed on the same code base as that of OpenOffice) along with the Google Pack.
IBM’s backing to OpenOffice.org can be seen as pitting OpenOffice against Microsoft’s Office suite products. Until now, OpenOffice has never challenged Microsoft Office’s share in the enterprise. Is this the beginning of the end of Microsoft Office’s dominance?

Outlook shortcuts

2007-09-01T04:01:00.001-07:00

For those of you who use Outlook as your email client, here are a few useful shortcuts:

Ctrl-Shift-O: Switch to out-box.
Ctrl-Enter: Send current message.
Ctrl-R: Reply to a message.
Ctrl-Shift-R: Reply All to a message.
Ctrl-Shift-A: Create a new appointment.
Ctrl-Shift-M: Create a new message.
Ctrl-1: Switch to Mail.
Ctrl-2: Switch to Calendar.
Ctrl-3: Switch to Contacts.
Ctrl-4: Switch to Tasks.

Protecting sensitive files

2007-09-01T03:47:00.001-07:00

If you share a computer with others, you may want a bit more protection for your personal files than Windows XP offers by default. There are two easy ways to achieve this: Create a password-protected compressed folder or encrypt an existing folder.

Password-protected compressed folders can be created on NTFS or FAT32 partitions. Opening a password-protected folder requires the right password. To protect files using a compressed folder, right-click in the desired location and choose New | Compressed (zipped) folder. Name the folder and move the files into it. Open the compressed folder and select File | Add password .

Encrypted folders are supported only on NTFS partitions. Rather than requiring you to enter a password, these folders are available only to you. If you want to encrypt a folder and its contents, right-click on the folder, choose Sharing and Security from the Context menu, click on the General tab, and click on the Advanced button. In the Advanced Attributes dialog, check the box Encrypt contents to secure data. Click on OK and then OK again. Win XP will encrypt the folder and its contents.

You won’t notice any change except that the folder name displays in a different color. Other users, however, will no longer have access to the folder.

Fixing mixed up desktop icons

2007-09-01T03:44:00.001-07:00

Windows maintains a cache of the images of your Desktop icons, so it doesn’t have to extract them from the corresponding program every time. If this cache is too small, Desktop icons may display improperly or show the wrong program’s icons. You can adjust the size of the cache by going into your register. Navigate to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE | SOFTWARE | Microsoft | Windows | CurrentVersion | Explorer. Add the following registry DWORD value called MaxCachedIcons. Give it a DWORD value of 4096.

If that does not help, set it to a higher value. You may need to force Windows to reread the cached icons after you increase the cache size. To do this, right-click on the Desktop, choose Properties, and click on the Appearance tab. Select Icon in the pull-down list labeled Item. Set the icon size to one pixel larger (probably to 33) and click Apply. Then set its size back to its previous value and click OK.

Setup the webserver in easy way

2007-08-07T09:01:00.000-07:00

Have you ever wanted to set up a web server on you computer to either do some development or maybe run a small site but think it is too hard to actually set up? If so, then today’s post will point in the right location.

XAMPP is the solution to your problem. This special distribution of the most widely used web server, Apache, makes setting up a web server with MySQL, PHP, Perl, FTP, and much more, truly a single click solution. After installing XAMPP you will be up and running with little to none configuration needed. Best of all, it’s free!

Think it is too good to be true? Download it and find out.

Note: If you plan on using your home computer as a web server, check your ISP’s terms of service to make sure this is allowed.

Desktop sidebar

2007-08-07T08:44:00.001-07:00

If you have upgraded to Vista, one of the more noticeable immediate changes is the addition of the desktop components which allows you to view an analog clock, RSS feeds, weather, etc. While this ships with Vista, Windows 2000 and XP users can get a similar tool via the free Desktop Sidebar program.

This tool allows you add many of the same components available in Vista plus more, including:

Search
Media Player / WinAmp Controls
Performance Monitors
Inbox
Todo List

I have really found the Vista component useful, so I have no doubt this tool will be a good edition to 2000/XP installation.

Fixing NTLDR is missing errors

2007-08-07T08:38:00.001-07:00

One thing I have noticed on message boards I visit is more and more people seem to be having problems with the NTLDR going missing or corrupt. As you may know, the NTLDR (NT Loader) is the default boot loader Windows uses to start itself up. If this goes missing or gets corrupted, Windows may not know how to start (unless you have another boot loader loaded on your system).

My guess is due to the rise in popularity of Linux, many people are trying it and when they load it on their system, it replaces NTLDR with either GRUB or LILO (Linux boot loaders). This is all fine and dandy until you want to remove Linux, then the nasty NTLDR message can start appearing.

This is a nifty looking resource which looks like it addresses this problem easily. While I have not personally tried it, I don’t see why it wouldn’t work. If you prefer to go the Microsoft route then this KB article would be a good starting point.

Hopefully you don’t have to worry about any such errors, but in case you do, this information can help.

Cleaning up corrupted installs

2007-08-07T08:36:00.000-07:00

If you have ever had problems trying to uninstall a program through the Add/Remove Programs dialog, typically this is because required uninstall files have gone missing. Typically it doesn’t do any harm to have “dead” installs listed in the Add/Remove Programs list, but it can be annoying.

To remedy this problem, try using the Windows Installer CleanUp Utility. This program, among other things, removes files and registry entries which the problem program’s installer created. While it is not 100% guaranteed to work (as it depends on how “messy” the installation actually is), it is a good and easy starting point to get rid of the unwanted program.

Resetting your internet connection

2007-08-07T08:34:00.000-07:00

If you use either DSL or a Cable Modem and find your Internet connection has unexpectedly gone down, before you dial up tech support, try “resetting” your Internet connection. Here is how:

Shut down your computer.
If you have a router, unplug it.
Unplug your DSL / Cable Modem.
Wait 30 seconds.
Plug your DSL / Cable Modem back in.
Wait 30 seconds.
If you have a router, plug it back in.
Turn on your computer.

For the most part, this will fix any connections where your Internet connection has all of a sudden gone down without you having reconfigured your environment. However, if your ISP is having issues at the time, this will not fix it (as it is up to them), but it is a good starting point for troubleshooting.

Shortcut to bypass Windows XP startup programs

2007-08-07T08:28:00.000-07:00

If you are troubleshooting your Windows XP installation, a prudent task is to boot up your machine without running the configured startup programs. Doing this can disable malicious programs from loading altogether.

Of course doing this could require quite a bit of effort if you were to manually edit the msconfig entries. Instead, try a shortcut mentioned in this Microsoft article, Troubleshooting the Startup Process, which is to simply hold down the Shift key while booting your machine. Doing this disables programs set to load in the following locations:

systemdrive\Documents and Settings\Username\Start Menu\Programs\Startup
systemdrive\Documents and Settings\All Users\Start Menu\Programs\Startup
windir\Profiles\Username\Start Menu\Programs\Startup
windir\Profiles\All Users\Start Menu\Programs\Startup

In order for this to work, you have to continue to hold down the Shift key until all the desktop program icons have appeared.

Additionally, this is a great way to make your computer boot faster to Windows as it doesn’t load all the programs in the background. You would, however, have to start these program manually if you wanted to use them.

Free registry cleaner

2007-08-07T05:25:00.000-07:00

It seems the Windows Registry has become a hot topic lately in the world of security and reliability. So much that there are many applications available which do nothing but try to detect errors in the Windows Registry.

If you are looking for a free tool, a utility which has received high praise is EasyCleaner. While I am always cautious (and skeptical) before doing anything with the registry, the EasyCleaner description on the website makes the program seem as though it is pretty straight forward and only looks at the obvious.

So if you want to try to clean up your registry, give it a try. Just remember there are always risks whenever you mess with your registry, so be careful and make sure you have a backup just in case!

Online password stength checker

2007-08-07T05:24:00.000-07:00

We all know that using a weak password is a no-no. Your dog’s name, your birthday or the word “password” are all bad ideas as they lend a higher probability to being cracked. While using a strong password may not be feasible for every login you create, you should definitely use on important sites, such as your online banking login.

A very nifty web tool which Microsoft makes available is their Online Password Strength Checker. This tool is very simple, just type your password in the box and you can instantly see whether it is weak, medium or strong. Don’t worry, your passwords are not saved, everything seems to be accomplished through client side script.

Give your current passwords a try and make sure they are at the appropriate strength

Find the right screen resolution of your screen

2007-08-06T08:51:00.000-07:00

Many a time, our nifty new computers are shipped out with a variety of default settings; one of these being the screen resolution. Screen resolution is measured in pixels and when the resolution is increased or decreased, the size and amount of pixels displayed on the screen increases and decreases respectively. By upping the resolution, we also increase the amount of screen space available because everything becomes smaller. This would be a common, and relatively simple, solution when one is fed up with scroll bars on webpages or minimal task bar real estate.

First, investigate which resolutions are supported by your monitor and which resolution is considered “native”; this is the resolution at which the monitor was designed for and aesthetically looks the nicest. Then, by Right Clicking on the Desktop > clicking on Properties > and selecting the Settings tab, you can alter the screen resolution to the dimensions of your desire.

Access Linux Drives from Windows

2007-08-06T07:51:00.000-07:00

If you run a dual boot between Linux and Windows (or want to), then it would probably be handy to be able to access your Linux files from Windows. Natively, you cannot do this from Windows as it will recognize the standard Linux file system’s, ext2 and ext3, as an unknown partition.

To solve this problem, look no farther than the Ext2 Installable File System For Windows. Once you have this tool installed, you will be able to read and write to your Linux drives, just as you would in Windows.

If you run a dual boot, this tool is invaluable.

Important check before upgrading your OS

2007-08-06T03:02:00.000-07:00

As a rule of thumb, anytime you are upgrading or moving operating systems, it is important to make sure your essential hardware and software are supported on the new OS. Be it Windows XP to Vista, SUSE to Ubuntu, or OSX to Tiger (you get the idea), due your homework to make sure your stuff is supported.

In a perfect world, vendors would be on the same page as the developers, however this is not always the case. If your hardware or software is not supported on the platform you are moving to, be sure to contact the appropriate vendor and find out when support will be available.

Tips for increasing life of CDs and DVDs

2007-08-06T02:50:00.000-07:00

You probably know CD and DVD media, while overall is fairly durable, can easily be damaged. Here are just a few tips to help keep your CD’s and DVD’s in top shape:

Never touch the underside of a CD or a DVD. It’s a sensitive area. Fingerprints and smudges can affect the disk’s readability. Always use your thumb for support on the outer rim and insert your index finger in the hole to hold the disk.
When you are loading your CD’s/DVD’s from the top, don’t bend the disk too much while inserting it to the rotation motor. Push the disk gently on the motor from the area outside the center ring.
The best way to store your media is in jewel or DVD cases. CD sleeves or other pouches may damage the media due to constant friction.
Never expose your disks to direct sunlight. There could be data deterioration due to the heat and high intensity light of the sun.

If you do notice the first signs of deterioration, backup or make a copy of your media so you can be sure to avoid data loss.