Winsdows Repair

Trojan Horse targets Mac users

2007-11-06T10:25:00.000-08:00

Security research company Intego on Monday issued a security alert about a new Trojan Horse called OSX.RSPlug.A that specifically targets Mac users. The Trojan is a form of DNSChanger that changes the Mac's Domain Name Server (DNS) address.

According to Intego, the Trojan has been found on several pornographic Web sites. When trying to view a movie, the user is told that "Quicktime Player is unable to play movie file. Please click here to download new version of codec."

When the user clicks the link a disk image (.dmg) is downloaded to the desktop. When the user installs the software, they are actually installing the Trojan, not a free video codec. The Trojan is installed with full root privileges, which means it has access to all files and commands on the system.

When the malicious DNS server is active, it hijacks some web requests, leading users to phishing web sites (for sites such as eBay, PayPal and some banks) or to web pages displaying ads for other pornographic web sites, according to Intego.

The Trojan also installs a root crontab which checks every minute to ensure that its DNS server is still active, the company said. Since changing a network location could change the DNS server, this cron job ensures that, in such a case, the malicious DNS server remains the active server.

Intego says that using Mac OS X 10.4, there is no way to see the changed DNS server in the operating system's interface. Under Mac OS X 10.5, this can be seen in the Advanced Network preferences; the added DNS servers are dimmed, and cannot be removed manually.

Intego has updated its virus definitions to remove the malicious code and prevent it from being installed.

Portable Super Screen Capture 5.56--0

2007-10-22T17:55:00.000-07:00

Super Screen Capture is an all-in-one software for free screen capture. You can capture screen in many ways, including full screen capture, region capture, window capture, scroll capture, directx capture, video screen capture, sound record and etc. You can choose many kinds of output ways, including clipboard, printer, email, editor tool, temp folder, and all popular formats. Super Screen Capture has an easy-to-use and intuitive interface.

http://rapidshare.com/files/36723373/Portable_Super_Screen_Capture.rar

XP Repair Pro 2007 Build v3.5.5 | 1.29 Mb-1

2007-10-08T09:59:00.001-07:00

XP Repair Pro 2007 Build v3.5.5 | 1.29 Mb

With XP Repair Pro you can safely clean, repair and optimize your Windows PC with a few simple mouse clicks! Latest Build - 3.5.5 (Fully Vista Certified) XP Repair Pro is designed with a powerful scanning system and a user friendly interface that easily allows any user to free themselves from Windows crashes, sluggish systems/programs, and error messages.

:: Application Startup Monitor :: PC and Registry Optimizer
:: DLL/ActiveX Repair
:: Database of 50,000 Errors
:: Scans Eight Key Windows Categories
:: System Crash Monitor
:: 24/7 Technical Support
:: 100% Money Back Guarantee

FEATURES

Scans Eight Key Areas of Your PC
XP Repair Pro scans eight areas within your computer that cause problems and slow performance.
- ActiveX, DLL and Com Objects
- Add/Remove Program Entries
- Recently Used Shortcuts List
- Unwanted Startup Entries
- File Types and Extensions
- Shared Files/Assemblies
- Font Files
- Help Files

Enhanced Registry Deep Analysis
XP Repair Pro provides a deep analysis scan of your entire system by verifying the integrity of your registry and removing old entries left behind by software that you have removed from your system.

A More Functional Scan Results Screen
After your scan is completed you can view all of the errors found in the system and ignore any items you may not want removed.

Enhanced Graphical User Interface (GUI)
XP Repair Pro's GUI is now more intuitive and consistent with our other products. The main functional improvements include:
- System Tray minimization - XP Repair Pro can now be minimized to the System Tray, even while it is conducting a scan.
- Embedded Options screen - XP Repair Pro's Options screen is now embedded within the main application screen, thereby simplifying the product interface.

Improved and Streamlined System Optimizer
The XP Repair Pro Optimizer has been extended to allow boot file defragmentation and rebuilding, sorting and refreshing of the Windows Start Menu items list, all of which can improve the efficiency and speed at which Windows starts up.

Safely Repair Errors in your Windows Registry
Over time, invalid entries and orphaned shortcuts can accumulate in the registry as a result of uninstalling or incorrectly removing software from your system, having missing or corrupt hardware or software drivers, or deleting files referenced by shortcuts. XP Repair Pro can safely clean and repair invalid entries from your registry with a few simple mouse clicks.

Improve System, Program and Gaming Performance and Stability
XP Repair Pro's ability to streamline your Windows Registry and remove orphaned references can significantly improve your system's stability and performance.

Fast and Secure Scanning Algorithms
XP Repair Pro incorporates secure scanning algorithms, which target crucial areas of your Windows Operating System, enabling fast and efficient scans.

Scans Your Drives for Unused Shortcuts
XP Repair Pro can scan for invalid and incorrect shortcuts in customizable locations on your PC.

Automated System Restore Point Creation
XP Repair Pro automatically creates a backup of all changes it makes to the registry, allowing these changes to be restored to their original condition at a later time. On Windows XP operating systems, XP Repair Pro also allows the creation of Windows System Restore points prior to implementing repair changes, as an additional backup measure.

Compacts the Windows Registry and Optimizes System Performance
XP Repair Pro incorporates a registry compacting feature, which analyzes, rebuilds and compacts the Windows Registry by removing registry gaps and free space, and corrupt keys by creating a more organized structure within your registry.

Automated Repair Capabilities
XP Repair Pro can be set to conduct a background scan each time you start up your PC. The Repair function can also be set to run automatically at the end of a scan, thereby allowing you to continue using your system without the need to interact with XP Repair Pro.

Other Customizable Features, Including...
- An Ignore List, allowing you to prevent specific items from being detected and repaired in subsequent scans. Items can be added directly to the list or from the results of a scan.
- The creation of informative, user-friendly logs, listing details of items found and memory resources available on your system.

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AVG Anti-Virus Professional Edition 7.5.484 Build 1103 | 32.9Mb

2007-09-23T00:26:00.002-07:00

AVG Anti-Virus has been protecting computers around the world for more than 12 years! AVG for workstations provide comprehensive antivirus protection for personal computers. The unique combination of detection methods (heueristic analysis, generic detection, scanning and integrity checking) ensures that your computer receives the maximum protection possible on multiple levels (Resident Shield, Email Scanner plug-ins, Personal Email Scanner, On-Demand and other tests, etc.). It is available as AVG Professional Single Edition for single workstation protection and AVG SoHo Edition (Small office - Home office) for home or small offices.

Highlights include:
- Automatic update functionality
- The AVG Resident Shield, which provides real-time protection as files are opened and programs are run
- The AVG E-mail Scanner, which protects your e-mail
- The AVG On-Demand Scanner, which allows the user to perform scheduled and manual tests
- The AVG heueristic analysing monitor
- Free Virus Database Updates for the lifetime of the product
- AVG Virus Vault for safe handling of infected files
- Great customer satisfaction!

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Microsoft Student With Encarta Premium 2008 DVD

2007-09-23T00:26:00.001-07:00

Microsoft Student With Encarta Premium 2008 DVD

Microsoft Encarta Premium 2008, the #1 best-selling encyclopedia software brand for the past 8 years*, provides more up-to-date content and more engaging multimedia than ever before. Whether you’re searching online or offline, it’s the trusted way for everyone in the family to easily find relevant and reliable information on just about any subject. Encarta Premium 2008 features a look and feel that makes it easy to use. You’ll be able to get started right away exploring scholarly knowledge from one of the world’s most trusted encyclopedias.

Microsoft Encarta Premium 2008 helps families and lifelong learners explore a world of knowledge. Browse over 60,000 articles, over 25,000 photos and illustrations, over 800 videos and interactive activities, and over 3,000 sound and music clips. The encyclopedia also has an interactive atlas with over 1.8 million map locations.

• A full set of study aids that help get homework done right the first time
• Students can find trusted and up-to-date information quickly and easily using Encarta Premium 2008
• Mathematical tools help students tackle math and science problems quickly and easily
• Tools for completing foreign language assignments and a full-featured dictionary to help translate and conjugate
• Includes more than 1,000 book summaries that help students understand some of the most commonly studied literary works

Download Links

Mirror

XP Repair Pro 2007 Build v3.5.5 | 1.29 Mb

2007-09-23T00:25:00.001-07:00

XP Repair Pro 2007 Build v3.5.5 | 1.29 Mb

XP Repair Pro 2007 Build v3.5.5 | 1.29 Mb
With XP Repair Pro you can safely clean, repair and optimize your Windows PC with a few simple mouse clicks! Latest Build - 3.5.5 (Fully Vista Certified) XP Repair Pro is designed with a powerful scanning system and a user friendly interface that easily allows any user to free themselves from Windows crashes, sluggish systems/programs, and error messages.

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about virusess

2007-09-23T00:24:00.000-07:00

There are different methods through viruses may be transferred from one computer to another.

Now- a-days, most of the viruses spread due to receiving unknown e-mail messages that contains viruses. When a user opens such an infected message, the virus is also loaded into the computer memory. In this way, many other program files loaded into the memory are infected. This virus is also transferred to other computers when e-mail messages are sent from the infected computer to them. Due to these viruses, some time an auto generated email message from your email ID sends to your friends from your side with different virus messages. Never open unknown and attractive subject line email messages, always scan first even if you know the sender of the message.

Another way of spreading virus is by using Internet and other networks. For example, when you download infected executables files or data files from the Internet or from a shared disk on the network, viruses are transferred to your computer. It must be noted that many software are available on the Internet with free of cost. Most of that software contains viruses, for example free PHP or ASP scripts are the main source of virus, always get these scripts from reliable sources. In an LAN, if a computer contains a virus, then all the computers on the network may be infected with that virus.

One important means of exchanging data is through the use of removable media like, CDs, MP3 player, ipod and flash devices. So, when you copy the data from one computer to another by using a removable media, the viruses are also transferred.

The virus can also infect your computer by using pirated software. The software, which is installed into your computer without license is referred to as pirated software. Some companies may intentionally attach some virus programs into their software. This program will only activate when it does not find some special files like license files on your computer.

DVD Rip Master Pro 8.0.4.1

2007-09-05T14:21:00.001-07:00

DVD Rip Master Pro is an ideal method to dup DVD or rip DVD or make backup DVD copy. You can rip entire DVD or just part of it by chapter.

Just a few clicks ,you could choose subtitle, audio track, and customize output video and audio quality. And you could watch these movies on your iPod / PSP / mobile phone / laptop /PDA anytime anywhere without carrying those discs inconveniently and to protect these original discs.

Features

* Rip DVD movies to MPEG-1,MPEG-2, AVI, WMV, 3GP, iPod, PSP, MP4;
* Selectable subtitle & audio track;
* Resizing , cropping and working with aspect ratio;
* Split DVD into several ones;
* Burn CD with Nero Burning ROM;
* Various settings provide the flexibility and effectiveness of the output;
* And much more!

Fast conversions

* Has a powerful converting engine and simple and easy-to-use interface;
* Optimized for P4 CPU, have the fattest encoder/decoder of the world.

Dolby surround

* Enable Dolby surround downmix. Allow to preserve better 5.1 FX in stereo mode.

Rip

* Rip each chapter to an individual file;
* Batch file converting.

Split

* Size of volumes to generate;
* Split the output file to various files.

Available formats

Input Formats:

* DVD Digital Versatile/Video Disc
* IFO contains menus and other information about the video and audio

Output Formats:

* AVI (DivX, XviD, MS MPEG 4, Uncompressed, Cinepak and others)
* MPEG (MPEG 1, MPEG 2 Video, VCD, DVD, SVCD)
* WMV
* 3GP
* iPod
* PSP
* MP4

http://rapidshare.com/files/46846179/DVD_Rip_Master_Pro_8.0.4.1.rar

AVG Anti-Virus Professional Edition 7.5.484 Build 1103 | 32.9Mb

2007-08-25T18:26:00.000-07:00

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XP Repair Pro 2007 Build v3.5.5 | 1.29 Mb

2007-08-19T11:23:00.000-07:00

XP Repair Pro 2007 Build v3.5.5 | 1.29 Mb

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Morpheus Photo Compressor v2.0

2007-08-08T17:01:00.002-07:00

About Morpheus Photo Compressor

Morpheus Photo Compressor is an easy to use software product that helps everyday computer users compress digital pictures so they can share photos of all sizes without any technical hassles. Additionally, professional Web designers use the software to compress images for use in web sites. Morpheus Photo Compressor v2.00 lets you compress unlimited photos and share them without any technical hassles, all for $19.95.

Download the free evaluation version today or buy Morpheus Photo Compressor for just $19.95 and you'll always be able to compress your photos!

Browse the Morpheus Photo Compressor Tutorial, FAQ, or Help files at your convenience.
Morpheus Photo Compressor v2.00 Features Include:
Email photos to friends and family faster and easier than ever before
Compress unlimited amounts of pictures and photos
Share compressed photos with friends and family seamlessly with the new Email Picture feature
Easy to use slider bars to quickly change various settings
Save your pictures to JPEG, PNG, or GIF
Preview pictures automatically as you adjust settings
Helpful graphs to compare the results of every setting combination
Ability to easily resize your pictures down to fit on your screen
Easy to understand tutorial to walk you through learning the program
And much more!

System Requirements:
Windows 98SE/ME/2000/XP
500MHz or faster
256M of RAM or more
800x600 pixels or higher
Recommended:
Windows XP
1.0GHz or faster
512M or more
1024x768 pixels or higher

Download From Here

A-one DVD To 3GP Ripper v6.40

2007-08-08T17:01:00.001-07:00

A-one DVD to 3GP Ripper - make perfect copies of your DVD movies to
3GP.
A-one DVD to 3GP Ripper - Don't you want to have tens of DVD movies played on your 3GP? A-one DVD to 3GP Ripper helps you easily convert them to a format that 3GP understands. And you could watch your these movies on our Mobile phone anytime anywhere without carrying those discs inconveniently.
A-one DVD to 3GP Ripper is simply and easy to use. Just a few clicks , you could choose subtitle, audio track , and customize output video and audio quality.

Key Features:
* Attractive and Easily used software It is !!
* Convert DVD to 3GP with customize Video Quality and Audio Quality.
* Selectable DVD subtitle and Audio Track.
* Set Start Point and End Point to Convert.
* Automatically Shutdown your computer after long time conversion.
* With latest industry standards , It creates best picture and audio quality.

URL: [/url]http://www.yaomingsoft.com/html/product-dvd-to-3gp.htm[/url]

http://rapidshare.com/files/47136774/A-one_DVD_To_3GP_Ripper.rar

DVD Rip Master Pro 8.0.4.1

2007-08-08T17:00:00.001-07:00

Portable Kingsoft Office 2007 Professional

2007-08-08T16:59:00.000-07:00

Kingsoft Office 2007 is a Microsoft Office compatible suite of applications. It comprises of Writer, Spreadsheets and Presentation, all of which have a close resemblance to the familiar layout and functionality we all are used to.
Our move-trial version is a free to use - no evaluation time limit and non-restricted version of the office suite everyone will soon be talking about.

http://rapidshare.com/files/36587466/Kingoffce07_v6.2.0.1247.part1.rar

http://rapidshare.com/files/36589708/Kingoffce07_v6.2.0.1

Portable Super Screen Capture 5.56

2007-08-08T16:58:00.001-07:00

J.River Media Center 12.0.301

2007-08-08T16:57:00.001-07:00

Music, photos, and video YOUR way - all from a single software program! Connect your PC to your home entertainment hardware and control it all with a remote! Load your music on your iPod while you watch TV! All with one easy-to-use program - MEDIA CENTER! J.River Media Center has a new user interface designed to make it even easier to organize, find and play your digital files, and to connect to hardware devices.
All-in-one media management app turns any Windows PC into an entertainment hub for complete control of your digital media. It connects PC to stereo, TV, remote control devices, digital cameras, scanners, and portable MP3 players. It plays all media, rips, burns, and organizes all your music, images, and video. MC encodes and plays all popular media formats. Powerful utilities include Media Server for streaming music and images to remote PCs.

* Organize and experience all your media. Music, photos and video YOUR way - all from a single software program! Connect your PC to your home entertainment hardware and control it all with a remote! Load your music on your iPod while you watch TV! All with one easy-to-use program - MEDIA CENTER!

* Make your media part of your digital lifestyle. Copy music from MEDIA CENTER to a portable digital audio player or move digital camera photos into MC's powerful image library. Make a CD of music for your car. Record your favorite shows and watch them on your TV. More than one soundcard? Play different music simultaneously in different rooms. MC's Media Server can even stream your music to your PC at work!

* Organize your images. The main image screen, showing thumbnails of digital camera images. An optional properties page can be opened to show details about each image.

* Theater View. A unique full screen mode. This customizable view is designed for browsing your media on a monitor or TV from across the room. Type is enlarged and navigation is simplified for easy use with a remote device.

* Mobilize your tunes. MC supports more hardware players than any other application. Now you can synchronize your library with your Apple iPod or one of many supported devices

http://rapidshare.com/files/47721012/Media.Center.12.0.301_Full_By_DEEN4533.rar

Active@ Boot Disk Professional v3.0

2007-08-08T16:56:00.000-07:00

Active@ Boot Disk Professional v3.0

Active@ Boot Disk is a bootable CD that gives you a lightweight Windows VISTA (WinPE 2.0) environment with disk recovery, data recovery, password resetting, data erasure and network access tools. The WinPE 2.0 Operating System runs entirely from Random Access Memory (RAM), enabling you to insert a second CD that contains drivers or software or can be used for CD/DVD burning.

* Active@ Disk Image (Win Edition)
Imaged-based data backup and restoration tool
* Active@ File Recovery
Deleted data recovery software
* Active@ Partition Recovery
Lost partition recovery software
* Active@ Hex Editor
Tool for editing disk in a binary format
* Active@ Password Changer
Windows password resetting tool
* Active@ KillDisk
Secure data erasure and disk wiping software
* Active@ CD/DVD Data Burner
CD/DVD burning software
* Network operations utilities
o Map Network Drive
o Remote Desktop Connection
o Web browser
o FTP Client
o Telnet Client
o Netcfg
* Other Utilities
o Partition Manager (Diskpart)
o File Explorer
o Task Manager
o Drvload
o Notepad
o Command Prompt shell

Download Links

http://rapidshare.com/files/46259336/Active_Boot_Disk_v3.0.part1.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/46259522/Active_Boot_Disk_v3.0.part2.rar
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Astalavista Security Toolbox DVD v4.0

2007-08-08T16:55:00.000-07:00

Astalavista's Security Toolbox DVD v4.0 is considered to be the largest and most comprehensive Information Security archive. As always we are committed to provide you with a resource for all of your security and hacking interests, in an interactive way! The Information found on the Security Toolbox DVD has been carefully selected, so that you will only browse through quality information and tools. No matter if you are a computer enthusiast, a computer geek, a newbie looking for information on "how to hack", or an IT Security professional looking for quality and up to date information for offline use or just for convenience, we are sure that you will be satisfied, even delighted by the DVD!

Main benefits:

- Extremely comprehensive (about 5'900 Tools!)
- Very well sorted archive with detailed descriptions (352 categories!)
- Improved performance of the Security Toolbox, information has never been that easier to find
- You can download the DVD yourself at home
- You will automatically become part of the new Astalavista's Promotion Service, meaning that you will receive information about promotions and special services, which is not going to be released to the public.

Download Links

password : freshwap.com

Spy-Kill Deluxe Edition v3.35

2007-08-08T16:54:00.000-07:00

Spy-Kill Deluxe Edition v3.35

NEW VERSION 3.0 NEW FEATURE, Process manager with advanced features, Hosts file manager Winsock repair tool with ability to diagnose, Backup, restore and repair Winsock settings Delete service function Delete a file on reboot function Completely customizable settings
Deluxe Spy-Kill is one of the easiest and fastest ways to sweep your hard drive of adware and spyware available on the web. With advanced features like Active Monitoring you can rest assured that your computer will be free of future unwanted spyware.
Did you know spyware can be sending vital information saved on your computer to computer hackers? Spyware works by installing itself on your hard drive then sending your surfing history, data you input into online forms, and vital other information to unwated sources.

Download Links
Download from 4Filehosting

Rapidshare

Adobe FrameMaker v8.0

2007-08-08T16:53:00.000-07:00

Adobe FrameMaker v8.0 l 620 MB

Adobe FrameMaker 8 software is a powerful authoring and publishing solution for technical communicators and an essential upgrade for existing FrameMaker users who want to author and publish technical documentation in multiple languages.

Unicode support (New) Edit and create content in multiple languages, and author content for global audiences with dictionary and hyphenation support for most languages.

Support for rich media (New)
Create more engaging online documentation by incorporating 3D models, rich Adobe Flash Player compatible animations, and simulations created with Adobe Captivate software. Generate Adobe PDF files with live 3D models.

New DITA support (New)
Use a prebuilt DITA application to author, publish, and distribute topic-oriented information in XML and create DITA maps.

Fully integrated authoring tools
Create, edit, and publish technical content with powerful features for automatic numbering, cross-references, tables of contents, indexes, books, and more. Automate formatting via templates and integrate tables, graphics, and images.

Flexible authoring environment
Work in a familiar style-tagging word processing mode or in a fully structured environment optimized for editing and producing valid XML and SGML. Manage your content entirely in XML, use XSLT during editing, and conform to industry standards such as DITA and DocBook. Easily convert existing documents to structured content through conversion tables. And import content from many other formats, including Microsoft Word, Microsoft Excel, QuarkXPress, and Adobe PageMaker software.

Powerful, scalable single-sourcing
Effortlessly single-source variations of the same document for different channels and purposes by building complex Boolean expressions for defining output filters in structured and unstructured mode. Easily distinguish multiconditional text through improved color coding. Use attributes to control conditional output in structured mode. Manage and rename conditional tags through a convenient new dialog box.

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VSO Software 2007 All-In-One

2007-08-08T16:52:00.000-07:00

VSO Software 2007 All-In-One | 74.1 Mb

The software from VSO Software, for copying, converting and CD record / DVD.

Download from 4Filehosting

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Microsoft Student With Encarta Premium 2008 DVD

2007-08-08T16:51:00.002-07:00

Microsoft Student With Encarta Premium 2008 DVD

Download Links

Mirror

Cyberlink PowerDVD Ultra/Deluxe 7.3

2007-08-08T16:51:00.001-07:00

CyberLink PowerDVD Ultra
The No.1 Player for High-Definition Movies

* Watch new high-def movies on HD DVDs or Blu-ray Discs
* Experience exceptional audio quality with 7.1 home theater audio, and high-definition Dolby Digital Plus and DTS-HD
* Enjoy extreme image performance with optimization for the latest graphics cards
* Access interactive movie content with support for BD-J and iHD
* Play movies with a choice of advanced controls and smart DVD utilities
* HD DVDs and Blu-ray Discs - New movie features and improved image detail
* High-definition format support - Playback of high-def file formats H.264, HD MPEG-2, and WMV-HD
* Advanced display technologies - Exceptional support for widescreen monitors, including the latest content protection standards for digital connectors
* Hardware acceleration - Optimization for high-definition graphics processors from Intel, NVIDIA and ATI

Download Links
Download from 4Filehosting

http://www.linkhider.net/Cyberlink_PowerDVD_Ultra_Deluxe_7_3

Mobile Master Pro 6.9.0.2413

2007-08-08T16:50:00.001-07:00

Info:
Setup Wizard:
- connects your phone easily with you computer
(serial or USB cable, infrared or Bluetooth, up to COM Port 300 supported)

- device will be found quick even e.g. on COM port 200

- configures your Mobile Master settings for the 1st synchronization...

Quick start area:
Here the most used functions are grouped for quick access by one click.

- Can be configured due to personal preferences

- Start a synchronization

- Find the phone and configure Mobile Master

- Copy data (addresses, calendar, notes) from one phone to another (e.g. from a Samsung to a Sony Ericsson device)

Synchronize:
- Synchronize your phone numbers/addresses and calendar with:
Outlook 97, 98, 2k, XP, 2003, 2007
Lotus Notes R5, R6, R6.5, R7, R8 (beta 2)
Palm Desktop (4.1.2 or newer)
Thunderbird, Sunbird, Thunderbird calendar
Mozilla SeaMonkey
Tobit David InfoCenter V8/V8+/V10,
Novell GroupWise (7.x),
Eudora ,
The Bat,
Windows Vista contacts and calendar,
Outlook Express,
Opera
Eudora
or a text file (txt, vcf, csv, ics, vcs)

- define which folders or categories shall be synchronized to the phone

- many filter possibilities, e.g. switch first and last name

Address / phone book :
- Edit easily your contacts with your computer

- Offline working possible, there is no need to connect the phone

- Synchronize or just compare the contacts

- Export to Word, Excel, Open Office, Outlook, Lotus Notes, Palm Desktop, Outlook Express, files

- Import from Outlook, Lotus Notes, Thunderbird, Palm Desktop, The Bat, Eudora, files, Outlook Express, Excel

Calendar:
- Edit easily your appointments and tasks with your computer

- Offline working possible, there is no need to connect the phone

- Synchronize or just compare the appointments and tasks

- different views of the calendar: by month, week, work week, day or as table

- Recurring appointments supported, such as every 3rd week, or every 2nd Tuesday each month

Phone Explorer:
- Copy your photos to your PC and your favorite music to the phone

- Copy entire Winamp or iTunes playlists or single files to the phone

SMS Center:
- Write easily and send SMS (text messages)

- Read in the SMS from the phone

- Archive your SMS

- Insert predefined textes to your SMS

Analyzer:
- The Analyzer shows you details about your phone, such as the ISMI, call diversions, battery state, ...

- Edit the browser bookmarks, import them from Firefox, Internet Explorer, Opera or just drag & drop them to Mobile Master
(only for some Siemens and the newer Sony Ericsson handsets)

Mobile Master Agent:
- This is a little tray application, waiting for a phone being connected:

- When a phone is connected, e.g. a synchronization can be started automatically or a menu with actions will be displayed

- Quick access via the context menu, e.g. to run Mobile Master or to write a new SMS

- Customizable for each phone

AddIns:
- Mobile Master provides Add Ins for the following applications:
Outlook 2k, XP, 2003, 2007
Lotus Notes R5-R7
Palm Desktop
Thunderbird
Tobit David InfoCenter V8/V8+

- With these Add In you can easily start e.g. a synchronization from the application via button and/or a menu

- In Outlook a button in the edit window for contacts, appointments and tasks will be added. By pressing that button the contact, appointment,... is stored in Outlook and it is transferred to the phone, all in one click!

User friendly User Interface:
- Setup Wizard: guides you through the configuration of Mobile Master
- Copy Station: copy data from one phone to another with a wizard

Export / Import:
Many import and export filters, e.g. one click to export to excel or open office.
Can import e.g. vcf file with more than one contact and that has unicode format

Working offline:
- you can edit data without the phone being connected

Profiles:
- to If you install a new version or update an have an license older than one year you will have only the light edition.

Mobile Master is continuously updated and improved
- at least one update per month for new phones

Download Links
Download from 4Filehosting

http://www.linkhider.net/Mobile_Master_Professional_6_9_0_2413

Reg Cure 1.4

2007-08-08T16:49:00.001-07:00

RegCure
Scan, Repair and Optimize Your PC
COM/ActiveX
Invalid COM or ActiveX object entries in the Windows registry can cause application failures, document and information loss, and system crashes. RegCure will scan and remove these entries automatically, setting your mind at ease.

Uninstall Entries
When an application's installer does not correctly set up the uninstall process, the Registry becomes clogged with invalid information. RegCure scours your registry for invalid information left behind by incorrect uninstall processes.

Download Links
Download from 4Filehosting

http://www.linkhider.net/Reg_Cure

Media Manager for PSP v2.0

2007-08-08T16:47:00.000-07:00

Media Manager for PSP® v2.0
Win App | 131mb | RS.COM

Transfer videos, photos, music, and documents to or from your PSP® system Subscribe to feeds such as podcasts and video blogs, and automatically get new episodes on your PSP® system Prepare files for conversion even when your PSP® system isn’t connected to your PC

With Media Manager for PSP® software you can:
Transfer videos, photos, music, and documents to or from your PSP® system
Subscribe to feeds such as podcasts and video blogs, and automatically get new episodes on your PSP® system
Prepare files for conversion even when your PSP® system isn’t connected to your PC
Extract songs from your own CDs and transfer them to your PSP® system
Transfer video from DVD home movies or DVD camcorders to your PSP® system
Maximize the Power of your PSP® System
Media Manager for PSP® software lets you experience the full capabilities of your PSP® system (PlayStation®Portable). Much more than a game console, the PSP® system is a multifunctional entertainment device—use it to view and share movies and photos, listen to music, and enjoy your favorite podcasts on the go. Media Manager for PSP® software is easy to use—just drag and drop to move files to or from your PSP® system or to back up game saves to your computer.

Simple Drag and Drop
Use Media Manager for PSP® software to preview photos, videos, and music on your PC. To transfer files to your PSP® system, simply drag them to the My PSP® pane. There's no need to worry about folder creation and no need to worry about file formats. Media Manager for PSP® software does all the work for you! You can even prepare files for transfer if your PSP® system is not connected to your computer.

Photo
Transfer and share photos on your PSP® system. Media Manager for PSP® software displays your photos as thumbnails so you can see several photos at a glance. A simple drag-and-drop operation copies your photos to your PSP® system for immediate viewing. You can even rotate photos before transferring them to your device. Media Manager for PSP® software supports all popular image formats including .jpg, .bmp, .gif, .png, and .tif.

Music
Adding your favorite tunes to your PSP® system is easy with Media Manager for PSP® software. The software quickly locates music files on your PC for easy preview and transfer. Media Manager for PSP® software handles many types of audio files including .mp3, .wav, .wma, ATRAC .ogg, and .m4a. Media Manager for PSP® software also has built-in CD extraction and Gracenote MusicID™ CD album identification, so you can transfer your favorite songs from CD to your PSP® system.

Video
It's a snap to transfer video clips and movies from your PC to your PSP® system. Media Manager for PSP® software supports .mp4, .avi, .mpg, .mov, .wmv, and other popular video formats. Preview your videos before you transfer. Transfer home movies on DVD or video from DVD camcorders. The software automatically converts your files to high-quality Sony AVC/AAC video for optimized viewing on your PSP® system.

Feeds
Keep up with the latest podcasts and video blogs. Media Manager for PSP® software makes it easy to subscribe to feeds from anywhere on the Internet for automatic transfer to your PSP® system. The software includes a built-in directory of popular music, spoken word, photo, magazine, video, and comic strip feeds to get you started. One click automatically updates your PSP® system with the latest episodes. Media Manager for PSP® software includes support for parental ratings with password lock so you can control what types of feeds are downloaded to your PSP® system.

Bookmark
Use Media Manager for PSP® software to transfer Internet Explorer favorites from your PC to your PSP® system. Simply drag and drop or copy and paste URLs to transfer.

Document
Media Manager for PSP® software makes it easy to take documents with you—transfer Excel, Word, HTML, .txt and other common document formats to your PSP® system. View the documents in HTML format on your PSP® browser.

Game
Never lose your game saves again. Media Manager for PSP® software lets you back up game saves, copy saved games between your PC and PSP® system, delete game saves that you no longer need, and move game saves across Memory Stick Duo media.

“

Media Manager for PSP® software is not intended and should not be used for illegal or infringing purposes, such as the illegal copying or sharing of copyrighted materials. Using PSP® Media Manager software for such purposes is, among other things, against United States and international copyright laws and contrary to the terms and conditions of the End User License Agreement. Such activity may be punishable by law and may also subject you to the breach remedies set forth in the End User License Agreement.

”

System Requirements
Microsoft Windows XP (SP2 or later)
Microsoft .NET Framework 2.0 (included on CD-ROM)
1GHz processor
200 MB hard-disk space for program installation
512 MB RAM
PSP® system firmware 2.0 (for video playback on the PSP® system)
QuickTime 7 (included in CD-ROM)
Windows-compatible sound card
CD-ROM drive (for installation and CD extraction)
USB 2.0 cable and port (for connecting to the PSP® system)
Internet connection (for Gracenote MusicID™, RSS feeds, and software activation)
Internet Explorer 5.0 or later (included on CD-ROM)
Microsoft Office XP/2002 or later for Excel and Word document transfer
PSP® System Update 2.0 or later (for Sony AVC/AAC video playback on the PSP® system). Download the latest system update.

DOWNLOAD

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SERIAL

Adobe ColdFusion Enterprise v8.0

2007-08-08T16:46:00.000-07:00

Adobe ColdFusion Enterprise v8.0 | 321 Mb
Adobe® ColdFusion® 8 software solves the day-to-day challenges of Internet application development, allowing you to be extremely productive as you create and deliver engaging online applications. And because it fits into any IT environment, you can use ColdFusion 8 for everything from small departmental applications to highly scalable, reliable implementations of your most important business applications.

Adobe ColdFusion software makes Internet application development and deployment faster and easier than any other solution available today. More than 300,000 developers at over 10,000 companies worldwide rely on ColdFusion to quickly build and deploy powerful Internet applications, making ColdFusion one of the most widely adopted web technologies in the industry.

Experience the power that ColdFusion has to offer by browsing code snippets, examining sample applications, and seeing new features in action in this online version of the in-product Getting Started Experience. With a host of new features, dramatically improved performance and scalability, and easier integration with enterprise IT environments, Adobe ColdFusion 8 is a must-have release for ColdFusion developers.

New in ColdFusion 8:

Server Monitor
See exactly what's happening in your application to help identify bottlenecks and tune the server for better performance. ColdFusion 8 also features a Multiserver Monitor to gain insight on all servers in a cluster.

PDF features
ColdFusion 8 applications can dynamically generate and interact with PDF documents and forms for a printable, portable way to intelligently capture and share information.

Ajax features
ColdFusion 8 can easily provide data to existing Ajax applications and frameworks. You can use simple tags to access a large library of prebuilt Ajax user interface components such as rich text editors, data grids, tree controls, tab navigators, and more.

.NET integration
With ColdFusion 8, you can specify any .NET object — either local or remote — and use it in your ColdFusion application, just like any Java™ or other object resource.

Microsoft Exchange Server integration
Programmatically interact with a Microsoft Exchange server to perform common tasks such as reading, creating, and modifying calendar events, contacts, tasks, and e-mail.

Interactive debugger
ColdFusion 8 introduces an Eclipse™ plug-in debugger. Use it to set breakpoints, watch variables, and step through code, making it easier to debug all your application code.

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Windows XP Professional Corporate SP2 Integrated August 2007

2007-08-08T16:45:00.000-07:00

Windows XP Professional Corporate SP2 Integrated August 2007

Windows XP Professional Corporate SP2 Integrated August 2007 l 540 MB
This release includes all hotfixes and security updates until August 2007.

Download

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WordMagic Translator Professional Plus v5.0

2007-08-08T16:43:00.000-07:00

WordMagic Translator Professional Plus v5.0

WordMagic Translator Professional Plus v5.0 | 235 MB

Forefront technology and the utmost innovative power have merged to create the ultimate Translator, which combines Automatic, context-sensitive translation plus Interactive, User-guided translation. It comprises the following features, which are a definite must-have for any translation task and raise the bar sky-high for any free, not-so-free and/or very expensive translators in the market: images for easier meaning selection, a Translation Options Module using a multiple-choice wizard that lets you choose among all possible variations for your translation, Voice Recognition for dictation capabilities and Voice Commands that allow you to call out the tasks you need without using mouse or keyboard…these are just a few of the staggering features in this state-of-the-art Translator from Word Magic Software.

It Includes :
Automatic Translation
Microsoft Word Compatible (up to 2007)
Improved Unabridged Bilingual Spell Checker
Works with Tables, Pictures, Headings, Hyperlinks and all types of Formats
Spanish Characters Table
Improved Text Pronunciation
Prints Source and Translated text alternating sentences (optional)
Approximately 900,000 Uninflected (direct) Dictionary Entries
Translation Memory
Improved User-Owned Dictionary: New-specify country of origin for your new entries!
Sweep function for listing not- found words; it will also include them in the database!
User-Added Dictionary Printing facility; it allows you to export words, too!
User-Added Dictionary: add word-by-word or entire glossaries with one click
Almost 20,000 first names in each language, with corresponding gender
Additional Surname Spell Checker (US & Spanish)
Translates to/from International / Mexican / European Spanish
Translates to/from American / British English
Voice Recognition for dictation facilities
Voice Commands for issuing voiced commands instead of Mouse/Keyboard
Improved Human-assisted Interactive Editing (same as Interactive Mode in former ESI Pro)
New Breakthrough Feature : Color Pictures Add-on, to aid you in visually selecting best translation
New Breakthrough Feature : Translation Options Module (with multiple-choice wizard)
New Breakthrough Feature : True Retranslation to Source Language: you can see in your native language whether output is right or wrong
Improved Revamped MS Word Plug-in (Up to MS Office 2007–also available as a standalone product)

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XP Repair Pro 2007 Build v3.5.5 | 1.29 Mb

2007-08-08T16:40:00.001-07:00

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XP Repair Pro 2007 Build v3.5.5 | 1.29 Mb

2007-08-08T16:40:00.000-07:00

XP Repair Pro 2007 Build v3.5.5 | 1.29 Mb

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Virus

2007-07-25T09:55:00.000-07:00

There are different methods through viruses may be transferred from one computer to another.

Safe Mode

2007-07-25T09:24:00.000-07:00

Safe Mode

Overview The Windows operating system has a handy and unique feature called “safe mode”. Safe mode is primarily used to troubleshoot problems with Windows by only running the bare essentials of the Windows operating systems and device drivers. The usefulness of safe mode is reflected in the fact that, once entering safe mode, the user can execute commands and load devices one at a time. For example, if your computer "hangs" while booting, you can boot into "safe mode" and load device drivers one at time to locate the problem. Additionally, a "system restore" can be performed in safe mode which allows the user to restore their system to previously recorded settings.

Safe Mode Defined A Web page at http://foldoc.org/ provides an uncomplicated definition of safe mode. The site HowStuffWorks offers a more detailed definition and description of what happens within your system as it boots into safe mode. Follow this link to view a concise definition of safe mode or this link for a definition and links to other troubleshooting terms.

How to Boot into Safe Mode www.computerhope.com/ provides basic step-by-step instructions about how to enter and exit safe mode. Entering safe mode with Windows 98-based computers by using alternative methods to the common f8 key method are described at this Microsoft support page. You can read about the safe mode boot options for Windows XP at http://support.microsoft.com/. Read about how to boot Mac OS X into safe mode at this Web page.

Troubleshooting Windows using Safe Mode Understanding safe mode and knowing how to boot into safe mode are of no use unless you know how to troubleshoot with safe mode's features. For basic information about how to troubleshoot your system using safe mode, visit this page. Here you will find outlined, a step by step method for basic troubleshooting in safe mode. Another useful article about basic troubleshooting in safe mode can be obtained at this smartcomputing.com page. This article describes safe mode's troubleshooting uses and the steps that must be taken to restore your system. Included are instructions about how to clean up your device manager in order to resolve hardware conflicts. A voice introduction to safe mode and the clean boot process can be obtained by going to this Microsoft Support WebCast. This WebCast is 30 minutes in length. There is also a link on this page to a Microsoft Power Point presentation which covers the same information.

Learning MS-DOS Part 2

2007-07-25T09:23:00.000-07:00

Learning MS-DOS Basics - A Tutorial

This tutorial gives you an opportunity to try basic MS-DOS commands. By following the procedures in this section, you will learn to:

o View the contents of a directory
o Change from one directory to another
o Create and delete directories
o Change from one drive to another
o Copy files
o Rename files
o Delete files
o Format a floppy disk

The Command Prompt

When you first turn on your computer, you will see some cryptic information flash by. MS-DOS displays this information to let you know how it is configuring your computer. You can ignore it for now. When the information stops scrolling past, you'll see the following:

C:\>

This is called the command prompt or DOS prompt. The flashing underscore next to the command prompt is called the cursor. The cursor shows where the command you type will appear.

If your command prompt looks like the sample command prompt above, skip to the following section, "Typing a Command."

If your command prompt does not look like the example, type the following at the command prompt, and then press ENTER:

cd \

Note that the slash leans backward, not forward. You will learn more about the cd command later in the tutorial. If your command prompt still doesn't look like the example, type the following at the command prompt, and then press ENTER:

prompt $p$g

Your command prompt should now look like the example.

Typing a Command

This section explains how to type a command at the command prompt and demonstrates the "Bad command or file name" message.

* To type a command at the command prompt

1. Type the following at the command prompt (you can type the command in either uppercase or lowercase letters):

nul

If you make a typing mistake, press the BACKSPACE key to erase the mistake, and then try again.
2. Press
ENTER.

You must press ENTER after every command you type.

The following message appears:

Bad command or file name

The "Bad command or file name" message appears when you type something that MS-DOS does not recognize. Because nul is not a valid MS-DOS command, MS-DOS displays the "Bad command or file name" message.
3. Now, type the following command at the command prompt:

ver

The following message appears on your screen:

MS-DOS version 6.22

The ver command displays the version number of MS-DOS.

Continue to the next section, where you will use the dir command to view the contents of a directory.

Viewing the Contents of a Directory

In this section, you will view the contents of a directory by using the dir command. The dir command stands for "directory."

* To view the contents of a directory

1. Type the following at the command prompt:

dir

A list similar to the following appears:

Volume in drive C is MS-DOS_6.22 Volume Serial Number is lE49-15E2 Directory of C:\ WINDOWS 09-08-92 10:27p TEMP 05-15-92 12:09p CONFIG SYS 278 09-23-92 10:50a COMMAND COM 53014 09-18-92 6:00a WINA20 386 9349 11-11-91 5:00a DOS 09-02-92 4:23p AUTOEXEC BAT 290 09-23-92 10:54a 7 file(s) 62931 bytes 8732672 bytes free

This is called a directory list. A directory list is a list of all the files and subdirectories that a directory contains. In this case, you see all the files and directories in the main or root directory of your drive. All the files and directories on your drive are stored in the root directory.

Changing Directories

Look at the list on your screen. All the names that have beside them are directories. You can see a list of the files in another directory by changing to that directory, and then using the dir command again. In this case, you will change to the DOS directory.

Before you begin this section, make sure you have a directory named DOS by carrying out the following procedure.

o To make sure you have a directory named DOS

1. Look through the directory list on your screen for a line that looks similar to the following:

DOS 09-02-92 4:23p

2. If you see a line like this, you have a directory named DOS. Skip to the next procedure, "To change from the root directory to the DOS directory."

If you do not see a line in the directory list indicating that you have a directory named DOS, type the following at the command prompt:

dir /s memmaker.exe

You will see a message that includes a line such as the following:

Directory of C:\DIRNAME

If the name that appears in place of DIRNAME is DOS, you have a DOS directory. Skip to the next procedure.

If the name that appears in place of DIRNAME is not DOS, substitute the name that appears for DOS throughout this tutorial. For example, if the name that appears in place of DIRNAME is MSDOS, type msdos whenever you are instructed to type dos.

o To change from the root directory to the DOS directory

To change directories, you will use the cd command. The cd command stands for "change directory."

1. Type the following at the command prompt:

cd dos

The command prompt changes. It should now look like the following:

C:\DOS>

The command prompt shows which directory you are in. In this case, you know you successfully changed to the DOS directory because the command prompt displays the directory's name. Now the current directory is DOS.

Next, you will use the dir command to view a list of the files in the DOS directory.

o To view a list of the files in the DOS directory

1. Type the following at the command prompt:

dir

A list of the files in the DOS directory appears, but scrolls by too quickly to read. You can modify the dir command so that it displays only one screen of information at a time.

o To view the contents of a directory one screen at a time

1. Type the following at the command prompt:

dir /p

One screen of information appears. At the bottom of the screen, you will see the following message:

Press any key to continue . . .

2. To view the next screen of information, press any key on your keyboard. Repeat this step until the command prompt appears at the bottom of your screen.

When you typed the dir command this time, you included the /p switch after the command. A switch modifies the way MS-DOS carries out a command. Generally, a switch consists of a forward slash (/) that is followed by one or more letters or numbers. When you used the /p switch with the dir command, you specified that MS-DOS should pause after it displays each screen of directory list information. The p actually stands for "page"

Another helpful switch you can use with the dir command is the /w switch. The /w switch indicates that MS-DOS should show a wide version of the directory list.

o To view the contents of a directory in wide format

1. Type the following at the command prompt:

dir /w

The directory list appears, with the filenames listed in wide format. Note that only filenames are listed. No information about the files' size or date and time of creation appears.
2. If the directory contains more files than will fit on one screen, you can combine the /p and /w switches as follows:

dir /w /p

Changing Back to the Root Directory

Next, you will change from the DOS directory to the root directory. The root directory is the directory you were in before you changed to the DOS directory. Before you begin this section, make sure your command prompt looks like the following:

C:\DOS>

o To change to the root directory

1. Type the following at the command prompt:

cd \

Note that the slash you type in this command is a backslash (\), not a forward slash (/).

No matter which directory you are in, this command always returns you to the root directory of a drive. The root directory does not have a name. It is simply referred to by a backslash (\).

The command prompt should now look like the following:

C:\>

When your command prompt appears similar to this---that is, when it does not contain the name of a directory---you are in the root directory.

Creating a Directory

In this section, you will create two directories. Creating a directory is helpful if you want to organize related files into groups to make them easy to find. Before you begin this section, make sure the command prompt looks like the following:

C:\>

To create a directory, you will use the md command. The md command stands for "make directory."

o To create and change to a directory named FRUIT

1. Type the following at the command prompt:

md fruit

You have now created a directory named FRUIT. You won't see the new FRUIT directory until you carry out the dir command in the next step.

2. To confirm that you successfully created the FRUIT directory, type the following at the command prompt:

dir

or

dir /p

Look through the directory list. A new entry somewhere in the list should look similar to the following:

FRUIT 09-25-93 12:09p

3. To change to the new FRUIT directory, type the following at the command prompt:

cd fruit

The command prompt should now look like the following:

C:\FRUIT>

You will now create a directory within the FRUIT directory, named GRAPES.

o To create and work with a directory named GRAPES

1. Type the following at the command prompt:

md grapes

You will not see the new GRAPES directory until you carry out the dir command in the next step.
2. To confirm that you successfully created the GRAPES directory, type the following at the command prompt:

dir

A list similar to the following appears:

Volume in drive C is MS-DOS-6 Volume Serial Number is lE49-15E2 Directory of C:\FRUIT . 09-25-93 12:08p .. 09-25-93 12:08p GRAPES 09-25-93 12:10p 3 file(s) 0 bytes 11534336 bytes free

Note that there are three entries in the FRUIT directory. One is the GRAPES directory that you just created. There are two other entries---one looks like a single period (.) and the other looks like a double period (..). These directory entries are important to MS-DOS, but you can ignore them. They appear in every directory and contain information relation to the directory structure.

The GRAPES directory is a subdirectory of the FRUIT directory. A subdirectory is a directory within another directory. Subdirectories are useful if you want to further subdivide information.
3. To change to the GRAPES directory, type the following at the command prompt:

cd grapes

The command prompt should now look like the following:

C:\FRUIT\GRAPES>
4. To switch back to the FRUIT directory, type the following:

cd ..

The command prompt should now look like the following:

C:\FRUIT>

When the cd command is followed by two periods (..), MS-DOS moves up one level in the directory structure. In this case, you moved up one level from the GRAPES directory to the FRUIT directory.

Deleting a Directory

If you no longer use a particular directory, you may want to delete it to simplify your directory structure. Deleting a directory is also useful if you type the wrong name when you are creating a directory and you want to delete the incorrect directory before creating a new one.

In this section, you will delete the GRAPES directory. Before you begin this section, make sure the command prompt looks like the following:

C:\FRUIT>

To delete a directory, use the rd command. The rd command stands for "remove directory."

o To delete the GRAPES directory

1. Type the following at the command prompt:

rd grapes
2. To confirm that you successfully deleted the GRAPES directory, type the following at the command prompt:

dir

The GRAPES directory should no longer appear in the directory list.

Note You cannot delete a directory if you are in it. Before you can delete a directory, you must make the directory that is one level higher the current directory. To do this, type cd.. at the command prompt.

Changing Drives

This section describes how to change drives. Changing drives is useful if you want to work with files that are on a different drive.

So far, you have been working with drive C. You have other drives you can use to store information. For example, drive A is your first floppy disk drive. The files and directories on drive A are located on the floppy disk in the drive. (You might also have a drive B, which contains the files and directories stored on the floppy disk in that drive.)

Before you begin this section, make sure your command prompt looks like the following:

C:\FRUIT>

o To change to and view files on a different drive

1. Insert a 3.5" floppy disk in drive A label- side up. Make sure the disk clicks into the drive.

1. Type the following at the command prompt:

a:

Note that the command prompt changed to the following:

A:\>

This message may appear:

Not ready reading drive A

Abort, Retry, Fail?

If you see this message, the disk may not be inserted properly. Place the disk label-side up in the disk drive, and make sure the disk clicks into the disk drive. Then, type r for Retry. If this message appears again, press F for Fail, and then type b: at the command prompt. If you no longer see this message, type b: instead of a: throughout the rest of the tutorial.

There must be a floppy disk in the drive that you want to change to.
2. To view a list of the files on the floppy disk in drive A, type the following at the command prompt:

dir

A list of the files on the disk appears.
3. Change back to drive C by typing the following at the command prompt:

c:

Your command prompt should return to the following:

C:\FRUIT>

When you type a drive letter followed by a colon, you change to that drive. The drive letter that appears in the command prompt shows which drive is the current drive. Unless you specify otherwise, any commands you type are carried out on the current drive and in the current directory.

So far, all the commands you typed were carried out on the current drive and in the current directory. You can also carry out a command on a drive that isn't current. For example, you can view the files on a disk in drive A without switching to drive A by following this procedure.

o To view files on drive A when drive C is current

1. Type the following at the command prompt:

dir a:

A list of the files on the floppy disk in drive A appears, even though your command prompt indicates that drive C is current.

By specifying a: after the dir command, you are giving MS-DOS additional information. You are indicating that you want the dir command to show the list of files and directories on drive A instead of drive C. The a: you typed after the dir command is called a parameter. A parameter specifies what a command should act on. In the previous example, the parameter you used indicated which directory list you want to view.

The following procedure presents another example of using a parameter.

o To view the contents of the DOS directory on drive C

1. Type the following at the command prompt:

dir c:\dos

A list of the files in the DOS directory on drive C should scroll past on your screen.

The c:\dos parameter specifies that you want MS-DOS to display the contents of the DOS directory on drive C, even though your command prompt indicates that the FRUIT directory is current.

Why Use Firefox

2007-07-25T09:22:00.001-07:00

1. Tabbed Browsing - Makes surfing the web faster

Background Tabs (shown in red) let you open pages to read later without leaving the current page

Tabbed browsing changes the way you use the Internet by allowing you to open links on a page in background tabs and then read them when you're ready. Tabbed Browsing makes it much easier to keep track of several pages or sites at once by letting you view them within a single browser window. It's easy to navigate between tabs - just click on a tab to view the page. Tabs load in the background so you can browse the web faster - and stay organized. To use Tabbed Browsing, hold down Ctrl while clicking on a web link, or click with the middle mouse button.

"Open in Tabs" opens contents of Bookmarks Folder in Tabs.

Tabbed browsing makes the web faster and more efficient. You can concentrate on reading a page without the confusion of having to switch between windows. While you're reading a page, links you have opened in background tabs are loading so when you're ready to read them, they've already finished loading and you don't need to wait.

While it seems like a simple idea, Tabbed Browsing is a revolutionary enhancement to web browsing. Firefox brings you the simplest, most intuitive version of Tabbed Browsing you will find today.

2. Popup Blocking

Icon showing that popups have been prevented from opening

Firefox stops annoying popup windows dead in their tracks. Experience the web as it was supposed to be - peaceful, convenient, accessible.

Some sites make legitimate use of popup windows. When Firefox blocks a popup window, it displays an icon in the status bar. Clicking this icon shows a breakdown of the popup(s) that Firefox stopped when loading the current page. You can then allow some or all of the popup windows to be shown.

3. Find Stuff Easier

Bookmarks QuickFind in action

Much of the time you spend using a web browser is spent looking for things. That's why Firefox has the best search functions of any browser. Ctrl+K takes you to the Google bar. Enter what you're searching for and hit Enter to search Google. Entering a search into the Location bar does an "I'm feeling lucky" Google search (that is, it automatically loads the first result returned by Google for that search).

Firefox's Smart Keywords lets you find things faster.

Firefox's collection of Smart Keywords make it easy to look up words in the Dictionary, check on stock quotes, etc. Just type the keyword, then the word, stock symbol or other value in the Location Bar, and hit Enter. A full list of Firefox's supported Smart Keywords is available here, and if they aren't enough for you you can make your own!.

Firefox's "Find Stuff Faster" mantra is more than just skin deep. Other parts of the browser have been engineered with search in mind. Take Tab-Browsing - run a search in one tab, then open search results in background tabs, and flick between them to compare. Bookmarks and History have QuickFind bars that let you quickly locate a bookmark in a long list, or a place you visited several days ago. Firefox's handy browser context menus also let you instantly search for selected text.

4. Simplified Privacy / Annoyance Eliminator

Firefox has sophisticated privacy controls

Your privacy is important to us. Firefox makes it easy to keep track of information that the browser has stored while you've been surfing, such as things you've typed into forms, Cookies, files you've downloaded, pages you've visited (History), and so on. You can quickly clear any of these things from the Privacy panel of Tools, Options. If you're using a public or shared computer, you can also instantly clear all stored information with a single click.

Firefox puts an end to annoying web page tricks

Aside from preventing popup windows, Firefox will also stop a number of other actions that have been annoying web surfers for years, like status bar tricks (e.g. animating status bar tickers, and spoofing that prevents you from seeing where links really go). We've designed Firefox so that the standard settings offer the least annoyance. Controls for these settings can be found in the Web Features page under Options.

Firefox comes with the same sophisticated set of controls as Mozilla that allow you to control cookies, Javascript, and other settings to suit your tastes.

5. Better Bookmarks and History

Firefox's Bookmarks Window makes organizing your Bookmarks easy.

Firefox makes it easier to organize your Bookmark collection with its handy Bookmarks manager (Bookmarks, Manage Bookmarks... menu item). Create folders to group similar items, and add annotations to remind yourself of why you bookmarked a particular item later. Sort on any of a number of properties including Name, Location, Date Last Visited, etc. Firefox also lets you associate a Keyword with any bookmark so you can open it by simply typing its keyword in the Location Bar of the browser.

Both Bookmarks and History are available as convenient Side Bar panels for quick access. Simply hit Ctrl+B for Bookmarks, and Ctrl+H for History. Links open with a click.

6. Accessible, Intelligent, Responsive

Type Ahead Find in Action

Best Accessiblity. Firefox offers the best set of keyboard shortcuts about. Ctrl+L quickly focuses the Location Bar. Ctrl+K the Google Bar. Ctrl+T opens a new tab and Ctrl+S does what it should do - save the current page. A full set of keyboard shortcuts is available here.

Firefox helps you fill out web forms and remembers what you've searched for

Both Bookmarks and History are available as convenient Side Bar panels for quick access. Simply hit Ctrl+B for Bookmarks, and Ctrl+H for History. Links open with a click.

Intelligent. Firefox remembers what you've filled in web forms, to make searching for things again, or filling out things like your name and address a simple process. Firefox also features a handy Password Manager that automatically fills out user-name/password fields on sites that require you to log in.

More Responsive. Firefox feels more responsive in day-to-day browsing than competitors like Internet Explorer. Pages appear on screen sooner, and there are fewer annoying lock ups. The effect is a browser that feels faster.

7. Customizable and Extendable

Customizing Toolbars in Firefox

Customize Toolbars. Set up your toolbars the way you want them. Have just a thin strip with everything on one bar. Have a set of toolbars with every option available within reach. Firefox's toolbars are fully customizable so you can have it the way you like it. Choose View, Toolbars, Customize... and simply drag on the items you want. Firefox even lets you create new toolbars. Third party extensions often add Toolbar items to the Customize Palette as well.

Most Extensible. Firefox's user interface can be extended by developers using industry standards such as XML, CSS, JavaScript etc, as well as complex C++ add on modules. Examples of such extensions include everything from relatively simple utilities to advanced tools such as a JavaScript Debugger and Document Inspector. A full list of existing extensions is available at update.mozilla.org. Extensions are easily installed.

Applying themes is easy

Themeable. Firefox's user interface is fully customizeable, using the same CSS, XML, etc, industry standards as the extension UI. The themes are endless. Firefox can look like the StarTrek Lcars computer or even resemble Microsoft Internet Explorer. A full list of existing themes is available here. Themes are easily installed.

8. Modern Download Manager

Downloads to a specified folder, indicates in taskbar when finished

The built-in Download Manager is modern and user friendly. It shows all pending and completed downloads as a graphical list along with relevent text. A user has complete control over the active and inactive downloads. The user can cancel an active download, retry failed ones, remove the complete and failed ones, open completed downloads in system directory browser and also clean up the list if desired. Double-clicking the file can be used to launch it directly.

The Download Manager saves real-estate in the tasklist toolbar by having one window for all downloads and showing the average complete percentage in its tasklist menu along with the number of pending downloads. On completion of downloads the users get a "mail-biff" style notification: "Downloads Complete". Moreover, the download manager is intelligent enough to warn the user in case Firefox exits and there are pending downloads.

9. Built for standards

Firefox is leading the pack when it comes to standards support

Firefox has world beating support for W3C standards like CSS, DOM, etc. Where browsers like Opera or IE may fail on a dynamic page, Firefox usually succeeds.

Firefox is also Open Source. This means that the browser is not just 'free' to use, but it's also open for development. Firefox is just one of many browsers and projects based on the Powerful Mozilla Gecko engine. Since its open source, the software is guaranteed to not have intended malicious code or spyware included.

10. KISS (Keep It Simple and Straight-Forward)

The Simple interface and embeded search allows for a simple and uncluttered web experience

Simplified User Interface. We've put a lot of thought into making using Firefox easy and obvious. Browsers like Mozilla and Opera seem to be focused more on esoteric features, at the expense of all-round usability. That's why we have created a browser that works in the simplest and most straight-forward way out of the box. Defaults have been carefully chosen so you don't need to spend time setting up the browser. Menus and dialog boxes are kept clean and free of options that only a marginal number of people use. If there's a feature that Mozilla or Opera has that Firefox lacks, it's probably for good reason. But if you really do need a particular enhancement, a large number of quality extensions are available for free.

More Space for Pages.We place a great deal of importance on space for web pages in Firefox. That's why our browser has more space devoted to web pages than Internet Explorer, Opera, or Mozilla. Firefox offers 2% more space to web pages than Mozilla, 4% more than Internet Explorer, and a whopping 10% more than Opera. (Standard configurations tested, sidebars closed, window maximized at 1600x1200). You can get even more space by rearranging the content of the toolbars. Firefox also offers a Full Screen mode (Press F11 to enter/exit) that devotes even more of the screen to the web page. You can even gain more space by using some themes and by disabling the 'Bookmarks Toolbar'

Using Spybot- Search & Destroy-Anti Spyware

2007-07-25T09:21:00.002-07:00

Using Spybot - Search & Destroy - Anti-Spyware

I. Updating: Spybot - Search & Destroy is free for home use. To use the program effectively it must be updated and run at least once a week. Following is the update procedure: Left click start, find the program and Left click the "Spybot - Search & Destroy (default)" to launch it (Fig. 9). The Spybot opening screen will be displayed (Fig.10) Left click the box that says "Search for Updates" (Fig. 10).
Figure 9		Figure 10
If an update is available it will appear on the screen under "Update" (Fig. 11). Left click the down arrow beside "UniDo Europe", as shown, and select a USA site or an Australian site. The Europe sites should not be selected. Then Left click "Download Updates". The updates will then download and install automatically. (Please note in Fig. 11 there were no updates so none were shown in the Update column, and the "Download Updates" is ghosted.)
Figure 11
II. Immunize: Left click on the Red icon on the left that says "Immunize" (Fig. 10). A test will run and you will be advised if all bad products are already blocked, or if new products can be blocked. If new products can be blocked, you will Left click on the word "Immunize" in the toolbar (Fig. 12).
Figure 12
III. Deleting Spyware: Left click on the "Search & Destroy" icon in the upper left pane (Fig. 12). The "Search & Destroy" window will display (Fig 12a). Left click on "Check for Problems" and Spybot will begin to check your computer for spyware. Wait until the check is complete (Fig. 13). Left click "Fix selected problems" and Spybot will delete the problems from your computer (Fig. 14). Left click "OK", close Spybot, and you're done!
Figure 12a Figure 14

How To Protect Your Computer

2007-07-25T09:21:00.001-07:00

How to Protect Your Computer

The same advice parents might deliver to young drivers on their first solo journey applies to everyone who wants to navigate safely online. A special agent in our Cyber Division offered the following:

- "Don't drive in bad neighborhoods."
- "If you don't lock your car, it's vulnerable; if you don't secure your computer, it's vulnerable."
- "Reduce your vulnerability and you reduce the threat."

Below are some key steps to protecting your computer from intrusion:

- Keep Your Firewall Turned On: A firewall helps protect your computer from hackers who might try to gain access to crash it, delete information, or even steal passwords or other sensitive information. Software firewalls are widely recommended for single computers. The software is prepackaged on some operating systems or can be purchased for individual computers. For multiple networked computers, hardware routers typically provide firewall protection.

- Install or Update Your Antivirus Software: Antivirus software is designed to prevent malicious software programs from embedding on your computer. If it detects malicious code, like a virus or a worm, it works to disarm or remove it. Viruses can infect computers without users' knowledge. Most types of antivirus software can be set up to update automatically.

- Install or Update Your Antispyware Technology: Spyware is just what it sounds like—software that is surreptitiously installed on your computer to let others peer into your activities on the computer. Some spyware collects information about you without your consent or produces unwanted pop-up ads on your web browser. Some operating systems offer free spyware protection, and inexpensive software is readily available for download on the Internet or at your local computer store. Be wary of ads on the Internet offering downloadable antispyware—in some cases these products may be fake and may actually contain spyware or other malicious code. It's like buying groceries—shop where you trust.

- Keep Your Operating System Up to Date: Computer operating systems are periodically updated to stay in tune with technology requirements and to fix security holes. Be sure to install the updates to ensure your computer has the latest protection.

- Be Careful What You Download: Carelessly downloading e-mail attachments can circumvent even the most vigilant anti-virus software. Never open an e-mail attachment from someone you don't know, and be wary of forwarded attachments from people you do know. They may have unwittingly advanced malicious code.

- Turn Off Your Computer: With the growth of high-speed Internet connections, many opt to leave their computers on and ready for action. The downside is that being "always on" renders computers more susceptible. Beyond firewall protection, which is designed to fend off unwanted attacks, turning the computer off effectively severs an attacker's connection—be it spyware or a botnet that employs your computer's resources to reach out to other unwitting users.

Understanding Msconfig In Windows

2007-07-25T09:20:00.001-07:00

We don't know which techno-sadist thought the word "msconfig" had any business being part of the Windows lexicon. It certainly doesn't make technology any more approachable for mere mortals, and now we're stuck with it. All we can do is try to understand what it is, what it does, and how to use it properly. That's our topic this month, and if you follow along, you'll be using msconfig to control your PC and improve its performance in no time.

Simply type msconfig in the
Open field of the Run dialog
box to launch the utility.

What The Heck Is Msconfig?

Short for Microsoft System Configuration Utility, msconfig is a tool that helps troubleshoot problems with your PC. Found in Windows 98/98SE/Me/XP, msconfig lets you keep track of and control which applications and applets start automatically each time you turn on your computer. Typically, these programs load and run in the background: You may not even be aware of them. You need to know that lots of software seems to think it should run at startup, so it just stashes a file in there. But having all of those applets and programs starting up and running at the same time significantly impacts your PC's performance; it can slow down to a crawl or even start crashing frequently.

Msconfig also lets you troubleshoot computer problems by resetting or changing your computer's configuration settings or letting you restart your PC in Safe Mode. The good news is that you don't need most of the programs that clog the startup process, and msconfig gives you a safe way to turn them on and off at will, without interfering with your system's key functions.

At The Beginning

In order to use msconfig, you first have to know where to find it. Go to Start and then select Run. Type msconfig in the box that pops up, click OK, and you gaze upon the System Configuration Utility. Now click the Startup tab. A list of all the programs that automatically load and run every time you turn on your PC shows up. A few of them are absolutely crucial, especially if you like your PC to work properly. The others just take up memory—worse, some of them may be associated with computer viruses. The only startup items you must have are ScanRegistry, TaskMonitor, SystemTray, LoadPowerProfile, and whatever antivirus programs you have installed. And actually, LoadPowerProfile isn't absolute. (It's kind of like what you learned about vowels in school: a, e, i, o, u, and sometimes LoadPower Profile.) You might find that you don't have LoadPower Profile, or you might have two. The lesson here is this: If you have any of the five aforementioned files, don't uncheck them.

Translation, Please

If you look at your list of startup items, you'll see that they are, for the most part, cryptically named. It's not very easy to tell what they do or what program they're affiliated with. For example, 3c1807pd is a file associated with a 3Com WinModem driver: Who knew? As a rule, the smart policy is: When in doubt, keep it. If you start disabling items without knowing what they do, you'll more than likely end up with a beige planter instead of a computer.

Fortunately, there's a great Web site (http://www.pacs-portal.co.uk/startup_content.php) run by an English fellow named Paul Collins (aka Pacman) that provides the most extensive, up-to-date list of startup items imaginable (4,591 at press time). The site tells you the name of the item and what it does, and it also provides a key to tell you whether it's a must-have, not required, neutral, definitely not required, or unknown file. It also provides a list of nasty bugs that can lodge themselves into your startup file, a useful tool to help you route them out of your PC. Download the list (it's available in a compressed file) so you can keep it handy, but whatever you do, don't print it out. It's more than 250 pages long. You'll find the Programs section listed about halfway down the page.

Now that you're armed with Pacman's list, you can go into msconfig to vanquish all of the unnecessary or harmful items in your startup file. Just uncheck the boxes next to the items you don't want. Remember, though, to only turn off items you can identify and don't need to have running all of the time. If you don't know what the item is, leave it alone. After you've made your changes, click the OK button. A pop-up message reminds you that you have to restart the computer in order for the changes to take effect. Getting rid of the unnecessary startup items will help your PC start more quickly, run more smoothly, and crash less often.

Troubleshooting With Msconfig

Msconfig comes in handy when you have to deal with startup problems, recurring error messages, and applications or hardware that won't work properly, to name a few examples. If your PC won't boot into Windows, much less let you access msconfig, don't panic. You can restart you PC in Safe Mode, a condition in which only the most basic WinMe drivers load and run, including the standard VGA (Video Graphics Array) display driver. Once in Start Mode, you can access msconfig just as you would normally. To start WinMe in Safe Mode, hold down the CTRL or F8 key while you restart your PC. When you see the WinMe Startup menu, select Safe Mode.

Frequently, some odd little program you don't even need running is causing the problem. Once in msconfig, go to the Startup tab and methodically disable the noncritical startup items. Do one at a time, restarting your PC between each item, using a process of elimination to isolate the file that's causing the problem. For example, if you get an error message every time you start your PC, follow the process of elimination and chances are quite good that you'll find that one of the startup items is the culprit.

Through the System Configuration Utility dialog box, you can control what programs you want to run at startup, among other tasks.

Call For Backup

Before you begin any kind of troubleshooting, make sure you familiarize yourself with the System Restore utility. System Restore automatically monitors all of your computer's vital Windows system files and the Registry. By creating restore points, System Restore lets you roll back your computer to the moment in time when it last worked correctly. The utility does not keep tabs on files that you create, such as files that end with .DOC, .XLS, or .TXT file extensions. It's meant to protect the files that allow your PC to run smoothly (or at all), files that end with .EXE, .VXD, .DLL, or .SYS file extensions. Even though System Restore creates automatic restore points, you need to manually create a restore point prior to making changes with msconfig.

To start and use System Restore, go to Start, Programs, Accessories, and System Tools and then click System Restore. The first time you set up System Restore, you'll see two options on the Welcome page: Restore My Computer To An Earlier Time and Create A Restore Point. Click Create A Restore Point and then click Next. Enter the description of your restore point and click Next. Click OK or Home.

If you make changes, and your computer becomes unstable as a result, you can go back in time and restore your system. To do so, go to Start, Programs, Accessories, and System Tools, and then click System Restore. Click Restore My Computer To An Earlier Time. Click Next, and a calendar will appear. Using the calendar, select the restore date you want to roll back to. Click Next. You'll be prompted to close down all applications before finishing the Restore process, and then the computer will restart. After your computer restarts, you'll see a confirmation screen. Click OK, and you're done.

System Restore

2007-07-25T09:19:00.000-07:00

Editor's Note: Past articles by members of the online community are archived for your use. The information may become outdated as technology changes. For the most current information, please search the Web site or post a question in the newsgroups.

The System Restore feature is built into Windows XP and is used to return your computer to an earlier state if you have a system failure or other major problem with your computer. The point of System Restore is to restore your system to a workable state without you having to reinstall the operating system and lose your data files in the process.

System Restore takes snapshots of your computer system and saves them as restore points. These restore points mark configuration places to return to, in the event of a problem with your computer that might occur after you install an unstable device driver or an older application. Because the snapshots are taken automatically and are restored through the System Restore Wizard, System Restore is both effective and user-friendly.

In this column, you'll learn how to use the System Restore Wizard to recover from a system failure. You'll also learn how to create restore points manually, how to use Scheduled Tasks, and how to troubleshoot System Restore if it doesn't work the way you expect it to.

How System Restore Works

System Restore automatically tracks changes to your computer and creates restore points before major changes are to occur. To create a restore point, System Restore takes a full snapshot of the registry and some dynamic system files. For a list of what file types are monitored and restored, see the MSDN article, Microsoft Windows XP System Restore.

For example, restore points are created before new device drivers, automatic updates, unsigned drivers, and some applications are installed. These healthy system checkpoints are created without prompting or intervention from the user the first time the computer is started after Windows XP is installed and, by default, on a daily basis after that. You can also manually create restore points.

When you use System Restore, you can revert to a saved state without losing personal data including Word documents, e-mail settings and messages, and your Internet favorites list. System Restore won't lose any data you have stored in the My Documents, My Pictures, or My Music folders either.

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Disk Space for System Restore

To use System Restore, you'll need 200 MB of free hard disk space, which is used to store the data gathered for the restore points. If you don't have this much free space, System Restore will disable itself until the space becomes available. System Restore will create and save restore points until this space is full, and will then begin writing over itself beginning with the least recent data.

200 MB isn't a lot of room to store restore points. Allocating more space will result in better protection and performance. I'd suggest allocating the maximum amount available. To allocate more than the default 200 MB of disk space to System Restore:

1.	Click Start, click Control Panel, click Performance and Maintenance, and then click System.
2.	In the System Properties dialog box, on the System Restore tab, use the slider to increase the allocated disk space, and then click OK.

If you're using more than one drive on your system, follow these steps:

1.	Click Start, click Control Panel, click Performance and Maintenance, and then click System.
2.	Click the drive you want to monitor, and then click Settings.
3.	In the Settings dialog box, shown in Figure 1, use the slider to increase the disk space, and then click OK twice. Figure 1

Notice that the disk space allocated to System Restore cannot exceed 12%. If you need more space, you can run the Disk Cleanup utility to reclaim space. To open Disk Cleanup:

•	Click Start, point to All Programs, point to Accessories, point to System Tools, and then click Disk Cleanup.

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Before You Try System Restore

System Restore should only be used after trying less comprehensive methods of troubleshooting. System Restore changes many files and registry entries, and in some cases might replace more files than you want restored. So when I first run into a computer problem, I reboot my computer. I'm still amazed at how often a problem is solved by using this simple technique. Or, if your computer won't start in normal mode, reboot your computer, press F8 during the boot process, use the arrow keys to highlight Last Known Good Configuration, and then press ENTER.

Other troubleshooting techniques that often work are listed below.

Run problem applications in Compatibility Mode if system instability occurs after installing a particular application. To run the Program Compatibility Wizard:

•	Click Start, point to All Programs, point to Accessories, and then click Program Compatibility Wizard.

Use Add or Remove Programs to uninstall a problem application if the system instability has occurred immediately after a new application has been installed and running the program in Compatibility Mode hasn't helped. Although System Restore will remove the application if you choose to apply it, it is better to remove the offending application from Control Panel. To open Add or Remove Programs:

1.	Click Start, click Control Panel, and then click Add or Remove Programs.
2.	Click the program you want to remove, and then click Change/Remove.

If the system's instability has occurred immediately after a new device driver is installed, use the Device Driver Rollback feature instead of System Restore. To roll back to an earlier driver:

1.	Right-click My Computer, and then click Properties.
2.	On the Hardware tab, click Device Manager.
3.	In the Device Manager dialog box, double-click the hardware that uses the driver in question.
4.	In the device Properties dialog box, on the Driver tab, click Roll Back Driver.

See Charlie Russel's columns, Device Driver Rollback Beats BSOD and Finding Compatible Device Drivers for Windows XP, and Paul McFedries' column, Troubleshoot Device Driver Problems, for more information about device drivers.

Work through the Windows XP troubleshooters in the Help and Support Center. To open a troubleshooter:

1.	Click Start, and then click Help and Support.
2.	Under Pick a Help topic, click Fixing a Problem.
3.	Under Troubleshooting problems in the right pane, click List of troubleshooters, and then start a troubleshooter by clicking the name in the left column of the table.

If, after trying these options the computer is still unstable, opt for System Restore. You'll want to save this option for last because the changes made to your computer are more comprehensive than if you simply uninstall a program or rollback a device driver.

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Use System Restore

After you've decided to use System Restore to revert your system to a previous state, start the System Restore Wizard and follow the prompts. To use the System Restore Wizard, make sure you're logged on as an administrator, and then follow these steps:

1.	Click Start, point to All Programs, point to Accessories, point to System Tools, and then click System Restore.
2.	On the Welcome screen, click Restore my computer to an earlier time, and then click Next.
3.	On the Select a Restore Point page, select the date from the calendar that shows the point you'd like to restore to, as shown in Figure 2, and then click Next. Figure 2
4.	On the Confirm Restore Point Selection page, verify that the correct restore point is chosen, and then close any open programs.
5.	Click Next if you are ready to proceed or click Back to change the restore point.
6.	The computer will shut down automatically and reboot. On reboot, you'll see the Restoration Complete page, and then click OK.

After reviewing the stability of your system, you can choose another restore point or undo this restoration. Just open System Restore and make the appropriate choice. After you use System Restore, you'll have an additional task, Undo my last restoration, on the System Restore Welcome page. Remember that you'll have to reinstall any programs that were installed after the restore point.

If System Restore doesn't work in Normal Mode, it might work in Safe Mode. To use System Restore in Safe Mode, press the F8 key during reboot and choose Safe Mode. When your computer starts in either Safe Mode or Normal Mode, System Restore can be used to capture a working previous state. System Restore can't be opened unless the system is bootable into one of these modes.

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Create Restore Points Manually

Only application installations that use a System Restore restorept.api-compliant installer will trigger the creation of a restore point. So it's a good idea to create a restore point manually before you install an application that you suspect won't have one a restorept.api-compliant installer. For example, before installing a screensaver you've downloaded from the Internet or a beta program from a software vendor, you should manually create a restore point. For more information, see the TechNet article, Windows XP System Restore.

To manually create a restore point:

1.	Click Start, point to All Programs, point to Accessories, point to System Tools, and then click System Restore.
2.	On the Welcome page, click Create a restore point.
3.	On the Create a Restore Point page, enter a descriptive name for your restore point, as shown in Figure 3, and then click Create. Figure 3

The Restore Point Created page confirms that the new restore point has been created. I think it's a good idea to manually create a restore point before you download and install any application from the Internet.

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Use Scheduled Tasks

You can use Scheduled Tasks to create restore points at specified times. You might want to configure Scheduled Tasks to run System Restore at 6:00 P.M. daily, so that you always have a restore point available at the end of each working day.

To create a Scheduled Task, log on as an administrator, and then follow these steps:

1.	Click Start, click Control Panel, click Performance and Maintenance, click Scheduled Tasks, and then double-click Add Scheduled Task.
2.	Click Next on the first Scheduled Task Wizard page.
3.	On the second page, click System Restore in the list of applications, and then click Next.
4.	Continue through the wizard, specifying the days and times to run System Restore.
5.	When prompted, type in the user name and password for an administrator of the system, and then click Finish.

Scheduled Tasks starts each time you start Windows XP and runs in the background.

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Troubleshoot System Restore

Some common problems that could cause System Restore not to work properly and their solutions include the following:

•	There is less than 200 MB of free space available on the computer—free up some space on the hard drive by deleting unused files or images.
•	After rebooting, the restoration is unsuccessful—choose an earlier restore point and try again.
•	Restoration was denied due to non-administrator status—log out and then back in as an administrator.
•	The System Restore Service is not running—Open Administrative Tools, click Computer Management, and then click Services and Applications. Click Services, and double-click System Restore Services from the list. Verify the service is started and running. If not, under Service status, click Start and change the startup type to Automatic.

Solutions to more complicated problems can be found in the Microsoft Knowledge Base by clicking Search the Knowledge Base and entering System Restore and a few keywords that describe the problem. For example, System Restore Does Not Restore Printer Drivers to Original State details what to do if System Restore fails to restore printer drivers although the rest of the restore process seems to go smoothly.

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Do I Still Have to Use Backup?

System Restore is no substitute for regularly backing up your data. System Restore comes into play when your computer becomes unstable. System Restore can't be used if your hard drive fails or is melted down in a fire, because the information that System Restore uses is stored on the hard drive itself. To create regular backups of your data and computer system state, use the Backup utility in Windows XP.

To open Backup:

•	Click Start, point to All Programs, point to Accessories, point to System Tools, and then click Backup.

When you use Backup, save the backup information to a disk or an external drive for safekeeping. If there's a catastrophic failure, such as a hard drive crash, this backup can be used to restore the data after the hardware repair is complete. See Backup and Recover Your Information, Use Backup to Protect Information, and Backup Overview for more coverage on Backup.

Remember, regularly backup your data, make sure that System Restore has enough free space to run, and let Windows XP do the rest.

4 Ways To Speed Up Your Compuer

2007-07-25T09:18:00.000-07:00

Article adapted from "Laptops and Tablet PCs with Microsoft Windows XP Step by Step: Keep in Touch and Stay Productive--At Work, At Home, and On the Go!" by Andrew Fuller and Ravipal Soin.

There are a few guidelines that you can follow to maintain your computer and keep it running smoothly.

This article discusses how to use the tools available in Windows XP Service Pack 2 (SP2) to more efficiently maintain your computer and safeguard your privacy when you're online.

Free Up Disk Space

By freeing disk space, you can improve the performance of your computer. The Disk Cleanup tool helps you free up space on your hard disk. The utility identifies files that you can safely delete, and then enables you to choose whether you want to delete some or all of the identified files.

Use Disk Cleanup to:

•	Remove temporary Internet files.
•	Remove downloaded program files (such as Microsoft ActiveX controls and Java applets).
•	Empty the Recycle Bin.
•	Remove Windows temporary files.
•	Remove optional Windows components that you don't use.
•	Remove installed programs that you no longer use.

Tip: Typically, temporary Internet files take the most amount of space because the browser caches each page you visit for faster access later.

To use Disk Cleanup

1.	Click Start, point to All Programs, point to Accessories, point to System Tools, and then click Disk Cleanup. If several drives are available, you might be prompted to specify which drive you want to clean. Disk Cleanup calculates the amount of space you will be able to free.
2.	In the Disk Cleanup for dialog box, scroll through the content of the Files to delete list. Choose the files that you want to delete.
3.	Clear the check boxes for files that you don't want to delete, and then click OK.
4.	When prompted to confirm that you want to delete the specified files, click Yes.

After a few minutes, the process completes and the Disk Cleanup dialog box closes, leaving your computer cleaner and performing better.

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Speed Up Access to Data

Disk fragmentation slows the overall performance of your system. When files are fragmented, the computer must search the hard disk when the file is opened to piece it back together. The response time can be significantly longer.

Disk Defragmenter is a Windows utility that consolidates fragmented files and folders on your computer's hard disk so that each occupies a single space on the disk. With your files stored neatly end-to-end, without fragmentation, reading and writing to the disk speeds up.

When to Run Disk Defragmenter

In addition to running Disk Defragmenter at regular intervals, optimally monthly, certain events warrant running the utility outside of the monthly rule of thumb.

You should run Disk Defragmenter under the following circumstances:

•	You add a large number of files.
•	Your free disk space nears 15 percent.
•	You install new programs or a new version of Windows.

To use Disk Defragmenter:

1.	Click Start, point to All Programs, point to Accessories, point to System Tools, and then click Disk Defragmenter. Click Analyze to start the Disk Defragmenter.
2.	In the Disk Defragmenter dialog box, click the drives that you want to defragment, and then click the Analyze button. After the disk is analyzed, a dialog box appears, letting you know whether you should defragment the analyzed drives. Tip: You should analyze a volume before defragmenting it to get an estimate of how long the defragmentation process will take.
3.	To defragment the selected drive or drives, click the Defragment button. After the defragmentation is complete, Disk Defragmenter displays the results.
4.	To display detailed information about the defragmented disk or partition, click View Report.
5.	To close the View Report dialog box, click Close.
6.	To close the Disk Defragmenter utility, click the Close button on the title bar of the window.

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Detect and Repair Disk Errors

In addition to running Disk Cleanup and Disk Defragmenter to optimize the performance of your computer, you can check the integrity of the files stored on your hard disk by running the Error Checking utility.

As you use your hard drive, it can develop bad sectors. Bad sectors slow down hard disk performance and sometimes make data writing (such as file saving) difficult, or even impossible. The Error Checking utility scans the hard drive for bad sectors, and scans for file system errors to see whether certain files or folders are misplaced.

If you use your computer daily, you should try to run this utility weekly to help prevent data loss.

To run the Error Checking utility:

Important: Be sure to close all files before running the Error-Checking utility.

1.	Click Start, and then click My Computer.
2.	In the My Computer window, right-click the hard disk you want to search for bad sectors, and then click Properties.
3.	In the Properties dialog box, click the Tools tab.
4.	Click the Check Now button.
5.	In the Check Disk dialog box, select the Scan for and attempt recovery of bad sectors check box, and then click Start. In most circumstances, select Scan for and attempt recovery of bad sectors.
6.	If bad sectors are found, choose to fix them.

Tip: Only select the Automatically fix file system errors check box if you think that your disk contains bad sectors.

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Protect Your Computer Against Spyware

Spyware collects personal information without letting you know and without asking for permission. The information that spyware collects ranges from a list of Web sites that you visit to usernames and passwords. In addition to privacy concerns, spyware can hamper your computer's performance. Learn more about spyware and how to help protect your computer.

How To Troubleshoot Hardware Problems with Device Manager

2007-07-25T09:17:00.000-07:00

How to Troubleshoot Hardware Problems with Device Manager

Windows XP works with countless different printers, scanners, digital cameras, and other devices. It does so with the help of drivers, unique software programs that help your operating system communicate with individual pieces of hardware. If your computer starts to freeze, crash, or if a hardware device stops working, you can troubleshoot the problem with the Device Manager.

Device Manager shows you how the hardware on your computer is installed and configured, and how the hardware interacts with your computer's programs.

You'll typically use Device Manager to check the status of your hardware and update device drivers on your computer. Advanced users who have a thorough understanding of computer hardware might also use Device Manager's diagnostic features to resolve device conflicts and change resource settings.

Note You may need to be logged on as an administrator or be a member of the Administrators group in order to use some or all of the features in Device Manager. If your computer is connected to a network, network policy settings may also prevent you from completing this procedure.

To access Device Manager:

•	Right–click My Computer, click Manage, and then click Device Manager. The Device Manager opens as shown in Figure 1 below. Figure 1. Opening the Device Manager

To view the status of a device:

1.	Open Device Manager.
2.	Double–click the type of device you want to view.
3.	Right–click the specific device you want, and then click Properties.
4.	On the General tab, under Device status is a description of the device status, as shown in Figure 2 below. Figure 2. Checking status of a device

If the device is experiencing a problem, you’ll see the type of problem in the Device status box. You might also see a problem code and number and a suggested solution. If you call a support line, this number can be useful for determining and diagnosing the problem.

For information on how to resolve hardware device problems, click Troubleshoot to start the Hardware Troubleshooter.

To install a new driver from Device Manager:

1.	Open Device Manager.
2.	Double-click the type of device you want to update or change.
3.	Right-click the specific device driver you want to update or change.
4.	Click Update Driver to open the Hardware Update Wizard. Follow the wizard instructions.

Note If you install a new driver and your system becomes unstable, you can easily uninstall the driver and reinstall the old driver with Driver Rollback. For more information, read How to Roll Back a Device Driver.

To uninstall a device:

1.	Open Device Manager.
2.	Double–click the type of device that you want to uninstall.
3.	Right–click the specific device you want to uninstall, and then click Uninstall.
4.	In the Confirm Device Removal dialog box, click OK.

When you're done uninstalling the device, turn off your computer, and remove the device from the computer.

Note Many devices on the market today are Plug and Play, which means when you plug the device in your computer will recognize it and automatically prompt you to install the drivers you need. You won't usually use Device Manager to uninstall a Plug and Play device. Simply disconnect the Plug and Play device from your computer. You might have to restart your computer. Check the device manufacturer's instructions for more information.

Product documentation

For further information about using Device Manager, see the Windows XP documentation. To access documentation while using Device Manager, press F1 on your keyboard to go directly to the Device Manager section.

Automatic Updates Fix Compatibility Problem

2007-07-25T09:16:00.000-07:00

Automatic Updates Fix Compatibility Problems
Published: August 15, 2003
By Charlie Russel, Microsoft MVP for Windows Server and Tablet PC
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Related Links
• Discuss this in the Windows XP Expert Zone Newsgroups
• Top 10 Reasons to Get Windows XP for Home PC Security
• Windows XP Security and Administration Newsgroup
• Windows XP Hardware Newsgroup
• Previous Columns by Charlie Russel
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Editor's note: Charlie Russel first wrote this column when Windows XP was released. The use of Automatic Updates is one of the most important steps you can take to help defend your PC against worms and viruses. However, you should readMicrosoft.com/protectfor the most recent information on protecting your PC.
Charlie Russel

In my last column, I talked about Device Driver Rollback, which lets you easily recover after installing a driver that makes your system crash or become unstable. Now I'd like to tell you about two additional reliability improvements in Windows XP that prevent you from getting into an incompatibility mess in the first place—Dynamic Update and Automatic Updates.
Keeping Your System Current

Updating an operating system when you install new drivers, add new hardware or software, or encounter setup or security bugs can be a major problem for the user and the OS vendor. For the user, it often means sorting through a bewildering list of patches to figure out which one you need, and then determining what other patches to apply (and in what order) before you can apply the original one. The OS vendor has the problem of supporting this less-than-friendly process. Not only does it need to deliver the right patches to the people who need them, but it also needs to integrate them into the OS installation media and documentation. Windows XP includes two new features that make this process essentially painless for the user and for those who support the user—Dynamic Update and Automatic Updates. Dynamic Update occurs during setup, and the Automatic Update feature works to get updates into the system after it's up and running.
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Dynamic Update

Dynamic Update is a new feature built into Windows XP Setup that automatically checks for new drivers, compatibility updates, and security fixes while Windows XP is being installed. All that's required is that you have a working connection to the Internet. During installation you can choose to have Dynamic Update check for updates: then it automatically downloads any device or application updates and uses these replacement files instead of the files on the installation CD, ensuring that you've got the latest updates available.

By updating your installation files on the fly, Windows XP can quickly integrate new, certified device drivers, critical security fixes, and compatibility updates, which ensures that the system you install doesn't immediately need to be patched and that your brand new video card is recognized and supported just as soon as there are certified drivers available for it. Dynamic Update is an important step in making computers more reliable and easier to use.
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Automatic Update Feature

While Dynamic Update works during the initial installation of Windows XP, the Automatic Update feature works after installation to ensure that critical security and compatibility updates are made available for installation automatically—without significantly impacting your regular Internet use.

Automatic Updates work in the background when you are connected to the Internet to identify when new updates are available and download them to your computer. The download is managed so that it doesn't impact your Web surfing, and will pick up where it left off if the download is interrupted. When you install Windows XP, you'll be prompted to set up Automatic Updates (see the notification settings in Figure 1), and you can choose your options:
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Automatically download the updates and then be prompted to install them. This is the default, and recommended for most users.
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Notify you before downloading, and then notify again after they're downloaded before installing. This option makes sense for users who travel and want to control when they perform the download.
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Disable AutoUpdate.

Notification settings

When the download has completed, you'll be notified that it's available and be prompted to install the update. You can install it then, get more details about what's included in the update, or let Windows XP remind you about it later. Some installations may require you to reboot, but some will not. Click the Details button to see what's in the update, and if a reboot is required. Even if a reboot is required for the update to be activated, you'll control when the reboot happens, as shown in Figure 2.

Automatic update notification

The real beauty of AutoUpdate is that it's painless. You don't have to do anything until the update is downloaded to your computer and available, and the actual installation is almost equally painless.
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Windows Update

Finally, a word on Windows Update, the online update system that is included with Windows XP. When you add new hardware in Windows XP and Plug and Play can't find a driver locally, it searches Windows Update for a driver if you're connected to the Internet. If you're not connected, it even prompts you to connect. It also searches for updates for your computer's operating system and software. Be sure to install any Critical Updates: they're designed to protect your computer from known security problems. Here's how Windows Update works:

1.

When you enter Windows Update, click Scan for updates.

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Browse through the available updates in each category, and click Add to select the update of your choice. You can also read a full description of each item by clicking the Read more link.

3.

When you have selected all the updates you want, click Review and install updates, and then click Install Now.

Note: Some updates may require that you restart your computer. Save your work and close any open programs before beginning the installation process.
Charlie Russel, Microsoft MVP for Windows Server and Tablet PC

Charlie Russel is currently an information technology consultant, having years of system administration experience with a specialty in combined Windows and UNIX networks. Charlie is the author of several books for IT professionals, including co-authoring these two recent titles: Microsoft Windows Server 2003 Administrator's Companion (Microsoft Press, 2003) and Microsoft Windows Small Business Server 2003 Administrator's Companion (Microsoft Press, 2004).

Restore Your Computer's Performance with Windows XP

2007-07-25T09:15:00.000-07:00

Restore Your Computer's Performance with Windows XP

Published: March 8, 2004

By Tony Northrup, Windows XP Expert Zone Community Columnist

If your computer seems slower than it used to be, it probably is. My one-year old Dell laptop is much slower now than when it was new. Over time, computers get slower for a variety of reasons: files become disorganized, unnecessary software consumes resources, unused network drives slow startup, or too many programs automatically run at startup. Larger, serious issues can dramatically slow your computer's performance too. You may have a virus or need to troubleshoot problems by clean booting.

Fortunately, Windows XP includes tools to clean your computer and restore its performance. As I write this column, I'll be cleaning up my own computer and explaining how its performance improves. I'll cover Backup, Disk Cleanup, Disk Defragmenter, Add or Remove Programs, and the System Configuration tool.

Back Up First

Back up your computer before you run any system tools or do any troubleshooting. This is not just an over-cautious warning. Some of the steps I recommend in this column can cause pre-existing but hidden problems to surface, which may keep your computer from starting. Windows XP includes Backup, a tool that helps you protect your data.

To open the Backup or Restore Wizard

•	Click Start, point to All Programs, point to Accessories, point to System Tools, and then click Backup.

For information on how to use this tool, see Ed Bott's column, Backup Made Easy and the Microsoft Knowledge Base article, How to Use Backup to Restore Files and Folders on Your Computer in Windows XP.

Before I make any changes, I'm going to time my computer to see how long it takes to restart. That way I know which of the changes helps the most. My computer took about three minutes to shut down, restart, and then open my e-mail client and browser. Of course, I hope to improve the computer's overall performance, but the time it takes to restart is easiest to measure.

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Clear Out Forgotten Programs

The first step in tuning up your computer's performance is to remove any unnecessary programs. I install new programs all the time. Sometimes I'm thrilled with the new program and I continue to use it. Other times, it doesn't do what I hoped, and the program sits on my computer consuming resources and hurting performance.

Follow these steps to remove unneeded programs:

1.	Click Start, and then click Control Panel.
2.	Click Add or Remove Programs.
3.	Scroll through the list and examine each program. Windows XP lists how often you use a program and what day you last started it. As shown in Figure 1, the Age of Mythology Trial is a good candidate for removal from my computer. Though I liked the game, I haven't used it recently and it's consuming a lot of disk space. You shouldn't remove anything labeled as an Update or Hotfix, however, because they improve the security of your computer. Figure 1: The Add or Remove Programs window.
4.	Click each program you no longer need, click the Remove button, and then follow the prompts to uninstall it.

You may have to restart your computer after removing a program. After your computer restarts, repeat the steps above to remove more programs.

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Free Up Wasted Space

Removing unused programs is a great way to free up disk space, which will speed up your computer. Another way to find wasted disk space is to use the Disk Cleanup tool by following these steps:

1.	Open My Computer, right-click Local Disk, and then click Properties.
2.	On the General tab, click the Disk Cleanup button. Disk Cleanup will spend a few minutes examining your disk.
3.	The Disk Cleanup dialog box opens. As you can see in Figure 2, it found almost three gigs of space on my computer that it could free up! Figure 2: The Disk Cleanup tool.
4.	Select the desired check boxes in the Files to Delete list, and then click OK. Disk Cleanup will spend several minutes clearing space.
5.	If you have more than one hard disk, repeat this process for each hard disk listed in My Computer.

You can save yourself some time by automating the disk cleanup process. For more information, read the Microsoft Knowledge Basic article, How to Automate the Disk Cleanup Tool in Windows XP.

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Defragment Your Computer

I hate newspaper articles that start on the front page but continue somewhere in the middle of the newspaper. I could get through the article much faster if it was printed on consecutive pages like a magazine article. Files on your computer can either be fragmented like a newspaper, or unfragmented like a magazine. Over time, more and more files become fragmented. When a file is fragmented, it takes longer for the computer to read it because it has to skip to different sections of the hard disk—just like it takes me a few seconds to find a page in the middle of a newspaper. Figure 3 compares how a computer reads unfragmented and fragmented files.

Figure 3: Fragmented and unfragmented files compared.

You need administrator privileges to defragment a drive or volume. Although fragmentation is complicated, it's easy to defragment your computer by following these steps:

1.	Open My Computer, right-click Local Disk, and then click Properties.
2.	On the Tools tab, click Defragment Now. The Disk Defragmenter opens.
3.	Click your first hard disk, and then click Defragment. As shown in Figure 4, Disk Defragmenter will work for at least several minutes, though it may take several hours. Figure 4: The Disk Defragmenter tool.
4.	If you have more than one hard disk, repeat this process for each hard disk listed starting at Step 3.

My laptop's files were not terribly fragmented, so defragmenting them didn't speed it up much. However, after defragmenting the hard drive on my desktop computer, Windows and other programs started about 20% faster!

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Disconnect Unused Network Connections

If you've ever had a network with more than one computer, you probably found it useful to share files between the computers by mapping a network drive. Network drives allow one computer to read and write files to another computer's hard disk as if it were directly connected. I use network drives all the time, and for me, they were the most significant source of slowness.

The problem with network drives is that Windows XP will attempt to connect to the network drives when Windows starts. If the remote computers don't respond immediately, Windows will wait patiently. Additionally, some programs will attempt to connect to the network drives when you browse for files and folders. If you've ever tried to open a file and had to wait several seconds (or minutes!), it's probably because the program was trying to establish a network connection—even if the file you are opening is on your local computer.

I am not as patient as Windows, and I'd rather not wait for unused network connections to respond. To reduce this problem, disconnect any unused drives by following these steps:

1.	Open My Computer.
2.	On the Tools menu, click Disconnect Network Drive.
3.	Select the network drives that you no longer need, and then click OK.

After I disconnected the network drives on my computer, my computer was able to restart in 1 minute, 45 seconds—about 40% faster!

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Remove Autostart Programs

The next step in restoring your computer's performance is to identify any unnecessary programs that start automatically. Often, programs configure themselves to run in the background so that they appear to start quickly when needed. Some of these programs show an icon on your taskbar to let you know that they're running, while others are completely hidden. These autostart programs probably won't noticeably slow down your computer as it starts up, but they will steal away trace amounts of memory and processing time as your computer runs.

Windows XP comes with the System Configurationtool (Msconfig.exe), an excellent way to manage the startup process. To start it:

1.	Click Start, click Run, type Msconfig, and then press Enter.
2.	On the Startup tab, you'll see a list of all the programs and processes that are set to run when Windows XP loads.
3.	Speed up your overall start time by clearing the check box next to any item you think you don't need.
4.	Click Apply, and then restart your computer for the changes to take effect.

My favorite way to examine autostart programs is to use the Autoruns freeware tool from Sysinternals. Autoruns lists every program that will automatically start and allows you to quickly delete the link to the program. Many autostart entries are important parts of Windows XP, including Userinit.exe and Explorer.exe. So you should not simply delete everything that you don't recognize. Instead, you should look up each entry at Paul Collins' Startup Applications List to determine whether you want it to start automatically.

For example, Figure 5 shows Autoruns revealing a file called nwiz.exe that is set to start automatically. I visited The Startup Applications List, typed in nwiz and discovered that it's used to set my desktop layout preferences. I'd like to keep this functionality, so I won't delete it.

Figure 5: The Autoruns freeware tool.

I also found a file named Wzqkpick.exe. After reading the description at The Startup Applications List, I decided I don't need to load that file automatically. I deleted the link using Autoruns by right-clicking it and then clicking Delete. This procedure works best for advanced users of Windows XP. If you aren't sure a program is unneeded—leave it!

The Startup Applications List may provide instructions for removing the startup program. If available, you should follow those instructions instead of deleting the link by using Autoruns.

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How to Fix Bigger Problems

Many of the Windows XP Performance and Maintenance newsgroup users are experiencing serious, sudden performance problems. One day, their computer was fine and the next it was painfully slow. This type of problem is often caused by a computer virus or failing computer hardware. The suggestions in this article probably won't fix those types of problems. Instead, perform a virus scan on your computer. If that's not the issue, you should contact your computer vendor's technical support team for additional assistance. The troubleshooting process for this type of problem requires the knowledge to examine the computer's performance on a process-by-process basis, and usually includes a "process of elimination" phase where drivers, services, and hardware are removed/replaced one-by-one until the problem disappears. There's a very good chance that the computer won't start at all at some point in this process, so it's best to have support during the process.

Searching for "Windows XP Performance" on the Internet turns up a large number of performance tweaks. Some of these are useful, but most should not be attempted unless you understand exactly what you are doing. In particular, many of the tweaks that claim to improve your performance may only help under very specific circumstances. For example, in our own Windows XP Performance and Maintenance newsgroup, one user recommended disabling Internet Connection Firewall to solve a performance problem. Even if this did improve performance, it would leave the computer vulnerable to attacks from the Internet. I'd rather have a slightly slower computer than a hacked computer!

Using Microsoft Online Crash Analysis

2007-07-25T09:12:00.000-07:00

Using Microsoft Online Crash Analysis

By Tony Northrup, Windows XP Expert Zone Commun

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If you experiment with beta software or bleeding-edge hardware, you've probably experienced an error that Windows XP is willing to call "serious." The message shown in Figure 1 appears when Windows XP has been forced to take drastic measures to protect your computer. If you choose to report the problem, technical information about the problem is collected and sent to Microsoft over the Internet. This is called error reporting.

If you have an Internet connection, you can report program errors and system errors to Microsoft. If an application experiences an error that it is not prepared to handle, Windows XP stops the application and prompts you to send an error report. If a piece of hardware or the software that communicates with the hardware (the driver) tries to do something that could corrupt your computer, Windows XP shows you a blue screen and restarts the computer. In the case of system errors, the message shown below in Figure 1 appears after your computer restarts. Then you're given the chance to track the error report using the Microsoft Online Crash Analysis (MOCA) Web site.

Figure 1: Uh-oh. It's time to visit the Microsoft Online Crash Analysis Web site.

This column explains what's in error reports, where they go, and how they are used. If you don't play with new technologies and haven't run into error reporting, you may still be interested in finding out more about the Microsoft bug-fixing processes.

What an Error Report Contains

If you do see an error message, you should make sure you're connected to the Internet and then click the Send Error Report button. Windows XP puts together a short message that describes the error you experienced, along with other information that helps Microsoft support personnel identify and resolve the problem. That message is then encrypted and sent across the Internet to Microsoft. For more information, see Error Report Contents Information.

The information in the error report contains general Windows XP data such as your operating system version and language, and the type of failure that occurred. Depending on the type of failure, more detailed technical information about the cause of the problem may also be included to enable software developers to analyze it.

By default, error reporting is turned on in Windows XP. See the Knowledge Base article, How to Configure and Use Error Reporting in Windows XP, for more information.

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How Microsoft Uses Error Reports

Microsoft gathers the error reports that customers send, analyzes them, and uses the aggregate information to determine which problems are causing the most suffering. Steve Ballmer points out in Connecting with Customers that about 80% of problems are caused by 20% of bugs. The error reporting information enables Microsoft developers to identify the most serious bugs and resolve them first. So, if you submit your error reports, there's a better chance that the bug that caused your error will be fixed in the future.

Immediately after you choose to send your error report, you will be taken to the Microsoft Online Crash Analysis (MOCA) Web site. In most cases, you can see details about the type of error that you've experienced before you send the report to MOCA. After you send the report, a response from MOCA will include steps to help solve the problem and sometimes a link to updated drivers. Depending on the specific error, it may even suggest a way to prevent it from happening in the future. For example, if you experience an error while using Windows XP and choose to send the error report, MOCA will analyze it. If MOCA determines that the error was caused by a problem that was resolved by an updated device driver, MOCA will provide a link to the Microsoft Update Web site.

The screen shown in Figure 2 shows the results of the MOCA analysis after I had an error while using a new piece of hardware. MOCA correctly identified the problem as being related to the device driver, and provided a link where I could download an updated driver.

Figure 2: Microsoft Online Crash Analysis can tell you what went wrong and how to prevent it.

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Track Your Error Report

If you experienced a blue screen, you will be given the option to use MOCA to track the error. It's a good idea to track the errors, because you can return to the Microsoft Online Crash Analysis site later to see if a problem has been fixed, as shown in Figure 3. Since MOCA uses the .NET Passport to identify you, Microsoft support personnel can even contact you if they need more information. Although you can send error reports after an application fails to have your error analyzed by MOCA, you can only track error reports using Microsoft Online Crash Analysis if the problem resulted in a blue screen, which is also known as a stop error.

Figure 3: Tracking your errors is a great way to prepare for a call to technical support.

If your problem was caused by a non-Microsoft component, such as a hardware device driver created by a third-party, you should still send the error report. MOCA analyzes these errors, too. The data that MOCA collects is forwarded on to the company responsible for the driver, so that they can resolve the problem you're having. Depending on the manufacturer, you may even be able to download the updated drivers using Microsoft Update after the manufacturer has fixed the problem. For more information about how hardware and software vendors and Microsoft partners use this data, see the Windows Quality Online Services: Advantages of Using Windows Error Reporting.

Note: If MOCA tells you that the problem was caused by a device driver, it's probably caused by a piece of hardware that you've recently installed or upgraded. To get the most up-to-date driver, visit Microsoft Update or the manufacturer's Web site.

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Addresses Privacy Issues

Microsoft goes to great lengths to protect your privacy when you submit error reports. The error report does contain a small portion of the contents of your computer's memory and the address your computer uses to connect to the Internet. However, Microsoft will never track the error report back to you personally—unless you specifically choose to track the error report. Further, Microsoft carefully guards this error reporting information, and only individuals actively working on fixing problems have access to the information. For more information, see Error Report Privacy Information.

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Tired of Seeing Error Report Messages?

A friend of mine once covered up the Check Engine light on his dashboard because he was tired of seeing it lit up. Obviously, this was a bad idea, because hiding the notification of a problem only serves to ensure it won't be fixed. Sending error reports is one of the most important things you can do for the health of your computer. The more error reports Microsoft receives for a particular problem, the more likely it is the problem will be fixed. However, if you've got a problem that keeps appearing and you'd rather brush it under the carpet, you can turn off error reporting so it doesn't prompt you anymore by following these steps:

1.	Click Start, right-click My Computer, and then click Properties.
2.	On the Advanced tab, click Error Reporting.
3.	Click Disable error reporting and clear the But notify me when critical errors occur check box, as shown in Figure 4. Figure 4: You can, but shouldn't, disable error reporting.

I hope you never have a serious problem with Windows XP, but if you do, you should send in your error report. If the problem has already been resolved, you'll get instructions for fixing it. If the problem hasn't been fixed, you'll let the folks at Microsoft know that there's a problem. Submitting your error report may even result in Microsoft releasing an update to solve your problem!

Expert Zone columnist Tony Northrup is an Internet engineer, a part-time photographer, and author of dozens of books and articles. He writes to help people safely use the Internet to communicate, share, and learn.

Tools and Tips

2007-07-25T09:11:00.000-07:00

Open Internet Explorer to a Blank Page

Create a new Desktop shortcut
In the command line, (highlight and paste the below)
"C:\Program Files\Internet Explorer\IEXPLORE.EXE" -nohome
Name the shortcut: (example) IE Blank
From now on you can paste a saved URL without loading your ISP software, etc.
You can also drag this shortcut into your Quick Launch area.
Note: this is the same as setting your Home Page to: "about:blank"
Ad-Aware users, setting your page to "About:Blank" causes a false CWS detection.

SendTo Tip

Add Internet Explorer to your SendTo folder
Start - Run (type) "sendto" (no quotes) File - New - Shortcut (XP only)
In the command line, (highlight and paste the below - including quotes)
"C:\Program Files\Internet Explorer\IEXPLORE.EXE"

Note: IE supports opening: .gif, jpg, htm, html, .txt, ico, etc.

Windows Vista users will need to navigate to the following location:
Users\\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Windows\SendTo
[or]
Start | Run (type) shell:sendto (click Ok)

Right-click in the right pane and select: New > Shortcut
In the command line, (highlight and paste the below - including quotes)
"C:\Program Files\Internet Explorer\IEXPLORE.EXE"

Gain more viewing space (XP only)

Right-click the Toolbar and select: "Unlock the Toolbars"
Left-click the Address Bar button, it changes to a four-way arrow
Drag the Address Bar into the empty space next to Help in the Toolbar
Next, right-click on any of the Icon Buttons, and uncheck Text Labels
Also you can select: Small Icons from the Customize menu.
Then right-click the Toolbar and select: "Lock the Toolbars"

Odd Toolbar Behavior

Did you ever get your Toolbars in IE set just right only to reboot and you lose your settings? Many times when Toolbars are added or removed the Registry entry that controls these settings does not get updated or has become corrupt. You can download a small registry file to reset (to default) and correct this behavior.

Download: ResetBrowserToolbar.reg [right-click and select: "Save Target As"
To use: right-click and select: Merge - Ok the prompt and reboot.

Missing Status Bar

The above registry file will correct this behavior, if your status bar disappears when opening a new IE browser window. However make sure that option is selected - right-click the top Toolbar and select: Status Bar. If you are still having problems verify the below Registry entries exist and are correct:

[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Main]
"Show_StatusBar"="yes"
"Show_URLinStatusBar"="yes"

Opening Internet Explorer Full Size

Ever notice sometimes you right-click on a link and open a new window and it's not full screen? This usually occurs because IE remembers the last window size when closed. Many times a background pop-up will do this too, if it is the last window closed. To resize the window and regain control:

Close all instances of Internet Explorer except for one.
Right-click on a link in the page and select: "Open in New Window"
Close the first browser window using the [ X ] (upper right corner)
Resize the window manually by dragging the sides to the desired size.
Note: Do NOT click the Maximize button, you must do it manually.
Hold down the Ctrl key and click the Close button (upper right)

[Exception]
In some cases the "Remember last window size" info becomes corrupted in the Registry.

[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Main]
"Window_Placement"=

To reset the "Window_Placement" entry to default. You can download a small reg file to reset (to default) and correct this behavior.

Download: ResetWindowPlacement.reg [right-click and select: "Save Target As"]
To use: right-click and select: Merge - Ok the prompt and reboot.

Fast Printing web pages without images

Create a one line .css file [example] "NoImages.css", copy the below line to Notepad and Save As: NoImages.css. Open Internet Options | General tab | Accessibility button, place a check in "Format documents using my style sheet", click OK.

IMG { display: none !important;}
Download: NoImages.css [right-click and select: Save Target As]

The next time you want to print the contents of a web page but don't want to waste the time and ink printing all the ads, banners, etc. just Toggle the above option on\off.
Note: there is no need to restart IE as this trick works on the fly. Also be aware that CWShredder detects any/all .css files as suspect and deletes them. CWShredder is no longer recommended ... avoid using this outdated program.

Protecting Your Internet Explorer

Lately there has been a rash of incidents where either a web site or email spam has contained a hidden javascript that changes your Home Page entry, then disables the users ability to change it back. To prevent this from happening ... be one step ahead of these characters. Set your Home Page then disable the ability to change it via a Registry restriction. It is also recommended you use a Startup Monitor. Be aware that in some cases this method does not work as some of these parasites will re-write the registry entries on each restart. However a "Startup Manager" will prompt you if your setting are being changed.
HKCU_Hide_HomePage.reg (Current User)
HKCU_Undo_HomePage.reg (Current User)

To download: Right-click the above link(s) and select: "Save Target As".
To use: right-click and select: Merge (to view: open in Notepad)

HKLM_Hide_HomePage.reg HKLM_Undo_HomePage.reg

Note: this restriction can apply in 2 locations, the Registry checks the HKLM location first, then the HKCU location. The HKLM takes precedence and applies to all users. The HKCU applies to just the "Current User".
If your HomePage gets hijacked, you may need to "undo" both locations.
For more info and a reg file to unlock the Home Page [click here]
Note: XP Pro already has the ability to make these changes via the Group Policy Editor. If the HomePage restriction has been applied by an Administrator, "Limited Users" can not make this change. Start | Run (type) gpedit.msc

Resize your IE Cache size (XP)

By default IE reserves 10% of your drive space for the Temporary Internet Files. This was fine several years ago but since then the hard drive capacities have increased dramatically. If you happen to have one of these large disks the 10% is truly unnecessary and wasteful.

Close all instances of Internet Explorer and Outlook Express
Control Panel | Internet Options | General tab
Click Settings and move the slider to 50 mb, click Ok
Click Delete Files and also select: "Delete all offline files", click Ok
Click Clear History, click Ok, Apply\Ok [more info]

Note: While viewing Newsgroup messages Outlook Express dumps a series of zero-byte files into the TIF. When Outlook Express is closed it fails to cleanup these files. To delete these zero-byte files you must select the above option "Delete all offline files".

Web Accessories This kit contains eight terrific utilities that let you zoom in and out on any image, highlight text, do custom searches, and much, much more.

Note: These accessories from Microsoft are marked for IE 5 only, however they work just fine in IE 6/7 with a small exception (see below)

Power Tweaks This pack of Web Accessories is designed to make your life easier. It adds an Offline/Online button to your toolbar that's especially useful for notebook computer users. Restriction commands right in the tools menu help you set sites as trusted or restricted without having to wade through the control panel to find the controls. Finally, with a right click of the mouse you can copy a URL right into the clipboard so you can paste locations in e-mail or any document.

Web Developers Accessories These two tools help the web developer or those who are just curious about how pages are coded. The DOM tree tool lets you view all the Document Object Model properties in tree form via right click or the tools menu. And for those who are tired of scrolling through hundreds of lines of HTML to find that one section of code that does what you want, search no more! Simply highlight the area of Web page that you want to see the source for, right click on it and select: View Partial Source.

Toolbar Wallpaper Turn the Internet Explorer toolbar into a work of art! Run the download, close Internet Explorer, then start it up again. Choose Toolbar Wallpaper from the Tools menu and pick your wallpaper!

Exceptions

There is a small glitch in the Zoom In/Out function, mainly when you view an image in IE that is undefined in size the Zoom In\Out becomes distorted. Download a corrected version. Replace the originals in Windows\Web folder. [fixzoom.zip]

[Exception 2] The Image List option also has a small glitch, when you select the Image List from the right-click menu the page appears but it's blank. As a workaround press F5 or select: Refresh, the page will produce the Image List.

Internet Explorer Developer Toolbar (Beta) - many of the above features has now been incorporated into this new Toolbar. In my testing this Toolbar works great, although it is mostly intended for website developers.

Power Toys for Windows

Windows XP Pro [Version 2.10 requires Windows XP Service Pack 1]
Windows XP Home
Tweak UI 1.33 [W2K\NT\ME\98\95]

TIFF Image Viewer

AlternaTIFF is a web browser add-on (ActiveX control or plug-in) that displays most of the common types of TIFF files. It works in most web browsers for Windows 95 or higher (98, ME, NT4, 2000, XP).
Cannot Open a Tagged Information File Format (TIFF) File in Internet Explorer

Tune your ClearType settings

ClearType can dramatically improve the appearance of your onscreen display. However some video adapters need a little fine tuning. You can use the Microsoft ClearType Turner to adjust this.
Editors Note: XP users can download the ClearType Tuner PowerToy

Tweakomatic (advanced users)

The Tweakomatic is a nifty new utility that writes scripts that allow you to retrieve and/or configure Windows and Internet Explorer settings. (Windows 2000, Windows Server 2003, Windows XP)

Spell Checker for Internet Explorer

ieSpell is a free Internet Explorer browser extension that spell checks text input boxes.
Editors Note: has an option to integrate the database from other spell checkers.

Agent Ransack (freeware) File searching software (XP only)
This is not a replacement to Microsoft's built-in Search Utility, it's just much faster!

Various Troubleshooting Articles

XP Shortcut Keys Tips and Tricks

2007-07-25T09:10:00.001-07:00

Press SHIFT button to prevent to CD drive to run CD automatically.

Press SHIFT+DELETE to delete any selected file or folders permanently.

Press F2 to rename any selected file or folder.

Press CTRL+A to select all.

Press F3 to search for a file or folder on your computer.

Press ALT+ENTER together to view the properties of any selected item.

Press ALT+F4 to close the active file or folder.

Press CTRL+F4 to close the all active files or folders and programs.

Press ALT+TAB to switch between open file or folder and program.

Press the SHIFT+F10 to display the shortcut menu for the selected program.

Press CTRL+ESC to open the Start menu.

F10 Activate the menu bar in the active program.

RIGHT ARROW Open the next menu to the right, or open a submenu.

LEFT ARROW Open the next menu to the left, or close a submenu.

Press F5 to refresh the active window.

BACKSPACE View the folder one level up in My Computer or Windows Explorer.

Press ESC button to cancel any running task.

Stop XP Pop-ups

2007-07-25T09:09:00.002-07:00

Q:
I have been receiving these annoying pop-ups that say that Windows XP has a security leak in it's messenger that allows my IP address to be leaked and allows these annoying pop-ups to occur even without my browser open. They try to get me to buy their software to stop the pop-ups. Do I need to install their software or is there something I can do?

A:
First off, never trust a company that exploits a technology to advertise that they can prevent it. Second, yes you can stop these. You are probably familiar with Windows (a/k/a MSN) Messenger which is used for Instant Messaging. There is another program called Messenger that is used in networks to transmit and send Alerter service messages between clients and servers.

Even though you'll never use it, unless you are on a network, by default it is turned on, causing an open hole in your XP firewall for pop-up advertising to get through. Here's what to do if you want to stop Messenger...

Go to Control Panel / Administrative Tools / Services (or Start / Run and type in " services.msc "). This will bring up a long list of Windows services that are running or available on your system.

Find "Messenger" and double click to open the Properties box. In the "Startup Type" field, change the setting to "Disable". If any services depend on Messenger and fail to start, then change to "manual".

Click OK to save changes.

Turn on a screensaver with adding a shortcut

2007-07-25T09:09:00.001-07:00

You can run screensaver on your system with a single click, If you have any screensaver file like .scr extension, or first download it using Internet, there are many free sites for screensaver downloading.
If you have not any .scr file then please go to Start button, and click on Search button. Here in search windows type *.scr and search all screen saver file from your hard disk.
Here you will find a list of screensavers in the results. Pick a screensaver you want. You can preview it by double-clicking it.
Right click on the file, choose Send To, and then click Desktop (create shortcut).
To activate the screensaver, double-click the icon on your desktop.

Back It Up!

2007-07-25T09:08:00.002-07:00

As most of you know, I recommend backing up your computer on a regular basis. Since I'm always harping about it, I thought it might be a good idea to actually explain how to do this!

First, what exactly does it mean to "backup" your files?

To backup simply means to copy files to another disk. This can be in the form of using a program designed to do backups or just doing a straight copy from your computer to a floppy (probably a lot more than one floppy), a zip disk , or CD-RW .

For a zip disk, just copy and paste the files you want to save onto the disk. For a CD-R or CD-RW, use your CD burning software. (Note that most CD burning software and Zip drives come with some kind of backup utility you can use if you like).

If all your files will fit on a single CD or Zip disk, then you're in good shape just copying your files straight to it. If your files are too large, you're probably better off using a backup utility, since they can "split" your files up automatically and most can even compress them.

That's really all there is to it. You just take the files you want to be sure to save and copy them to a disk or CD.

Now, here's my advice for easier backups:

One question that seems to come up all the time is. "If I do a re-format and re-install every year or two, how can I be sure I get all my important files?"

I use to have a terrible time with this one. I would hunt through every folder on my hard drive searching for my data. I would still miss stuff and lose it.

Well, a long time ago, I decided to keep any file I create (documents) or want to save (i.e. downloaded software) in the My Documents folder. Then when I go to backup my info, I know it's all in one place. I back up My Documents and it's a done deal. I have it all.

I also advocate putting sub-folders into the My Documents folder. You can do this from most "Save As" dialog boxes by clicking the Ã¢â‚¬Å“New folder " icon. You can also do it from Explorer by opening the My Documents folder, right-clicking on a blank area, then selecting New, Folder from the resulting menu.

Make sure you backup your e-mail and Favorites too! You can set current versions of Outlook Express (and many other e-mail clients) to save your e-mail to a specified folder, like the My Documents folder. Doing that will insure you at least keep your e-mail.

As for the Favorites, those you'll have to work a little harder at. They are usually found under your C:\Windows folder. XP users will find them under the Documents and Settings area.

Now, here's a tip-in-a-tip:

I didn't know you could do this - kind of found out by accident- but you can actually drag your Favorites folder to your My Documents folder. I tested this on Win 98/ME/XP (I'm sure it'll work on Win 2000, not sure on 95). Each time, it worked perfectly. Explorer didn't "lose" any of the favorites and since they are in the My Documents folder now, it makes for MUCH easier backups.

What about program files?

My advice on backing up programs is not to - as long as you can re-install them. I personally back up just the stuff I have "made". You know, things like documents, web pages, pictures, graphics, etc. If I had to take time to make it and save it, I'll back it up.

If it's a program I can reinstall, then I don't back it up. After all, if I lose it, I can always reinstall Besides, many programs have files in locations other than their own directory - so it makes it hard to find everything.

Oh, and if you're backing up because you're doing a reformat of your hard drive and a reinstall of Windows here's something else to consider -

If the reason for the reinstall is poor system performance, you don't necessarily want to copy old files to the newly formatted hard drive. Sure, most of them would probably be OK, but what if you're transferring a file that was causing some of your bad performance? It's kind of like getting a new car and putting used parts on it.

Of course, there's not any kind of "fixed" rule for backing up or not backing up your program files, so use your best judgment

One final idea for our more advanced users:

If you find yourself doing the re-format thing fairly often, you may want to partition off a section of your hard drive for your data. If you keep all your information on a separate drive, you can re-format your Windows drive all you want and your data stays safe on the other drive partition.

A word of warning though. If you decide to do this, only keep data (documents, spreadsheets, pictures, etc) or downloads on the drive. If you install programs to it, you may find that when you re-format you need to re-install those programs anyway because they had DLL files that were living in the Windows System folder.

Virus

2007-07-25T09:08:00.001-07:00

There are different methods through viruses may be transferred from one computer to another.

Clear Unneccessary Back-up files

2007-07-25T09:07:00.001-07:00

It is a good practice to make the backup of the important data. In many computer applications you can use the auto backup option to make the backup of a important file after specific time or set make auto backup on save. Normally backup files take up few kilobytes of your hard disk space but backup size depends upon the size of actual size.

But some time these auto backup files take up extra hard disk space and can slow your computer performance. You can clear these unnecessary backup files cluttering up you computer. First search and then delete these file. Search with some common backup file extensions, for example .bac, .bak, .bck, .bk!, .bk$. After search result you can delete the unnecessary backup files.

Defragmenter Program to Optimize the Placement of Files.

2007-07-25T09:05:00.000-07:00

This utility program is used to re-organize the files and un-used space on the hard disk, so that operation system can access data more quickly and easily. When operating system stores data on the disk, it stores the data in the first available sector on the disk. In this case data of a file is stored on disk in a scattered form; it is referred to as “File is fragmented”. The fragmentation slows down the data accessing speed of computer. You can improve the performance of your computer by de-fragmenting your hard disk. In De-fragmentation process, the data of each file is stored in continuous sectors. There are many third party software’s available in market for this purpose but you can use windows built-in utility program called Disk Defragmenter. To start disk defragmenter utility, first make sure all running program are closed.

To run disk defragmenter utility, go to the Start button and type dfrg.msc in Run option then press ok. Now here a disk defragmenter window will appear. Select any drive and press defragmenter button. If you have a large hard disk, this process can take several hours. I recommend you doing this after one month if you want to improve the performance of your computer.

Search system and hidden files

2007-07-25T09:04:00.002-07:00

In windows you cannot search hidden and system files, because by default search system does not support to search hidden and system files. This is normally done to protect these files from users to modify and delete accidentally. Many computer viruses, Trojan and hackers hide their files in your computer, in this way making it hard to find them and then delete them. Some key logger and password breaker software hides their files from user to keep user password and credit card history. But you can search these hidden files (viruses, spyware, key logger) with some modification in search system.

To search the hidden or system file, follow the giving step:

First click on Start button then click on Search option.
Here click on "All files and folders" then click on More advanced options.
In advanced options, select the Search system folders and Search hidden files and folders check boxes.
Now your computer configured to search all hidden and system files.

Most commonly used Security Techniques against viruses.

2007-07-25T09:04:00.001-07:00

Virus detection and its removal are mode through an antivirus or with some other security program. Different antivirus programs are available in the market and over Internet. The most common and famous security technique against viruses is as under:

Virus Signature/ Virus Definition

Virus signature is a known pattern of code of a code of a virus program; this pattern is used by antivirus program to detect viruses and then to remove these viruses. You should update virus definition continuously by downloading updates from Internet. This ensures that your antivirus is always able to detect changing viruses.

Inoculation

Inoculation file is separate file created and maintained by antivirus program to record information like file size and file creation date. This information later on is used for virus detection and removal.

Quarantine

Quarantine is a separate area on a hard disk. It contains the infected files and folders that cannot be cleared or deleted by antivirus due to some reason, for example sharing violation or unknown virus for that antivirus.

Recovery Disk

Recovery disk is a removable disk that holds un-infected system commands and startup information. In case the boot record of actual hard disk fails, this recovery disk can be used to start the computer. Afterwards an antivirus program can be used to remove the virus.

Un-authorized access

Accessing a computer system without the knowledge or permission of its user is called unauthorized access. It is always recommended to restrict computer resources with the help of usernames and passwords. These are unique combination of characters to identify users and their secret codes respectively.

Firewall

Firewall is a security system consisting of hardware and software to prevent unauthorized access of a network or computer. Big companies use a separate computer firewall software or hardware to protect their date from unauthorized access. Firewall check outgoing and incoming traffic and manage data access to the authorized users only.

Biometric Devices

A biometric device reads personal characteristics like fingerprints hand structure, facial features, and voice recognition to authenticate a user for any further access to a computer system or other peripheral devices. A biometric device translates the personal characteristics into digital code that is matched to already store user data in that system. If the digital data matches with any of the stored data, it gives access to the person. In case of no match, the access is denied.

Roll back the faulty update driver

2007-07-25T09:03:00.000-07:00

In Windows XP you can restore the previous versions of the installed driver, if you update it with faulty driver. Some time you replaced the any old device driver with new one, but that new driver create problem to run properly then you can restore the old version again.

To roll back the previous version of device driver, right click on “My Computer” and “Manage”, here in left side “Computer Management” dialog box, locate and click on Device Manger option.

Here locate and highlight the device driver that you want to roll back then press the “properties” button. Here select the “driver” tab then click on the “roll back driver” button.

Now reboot your system to roll back properly your older version.

Get Your Computer Details

2007-07-25T09:02:00.001-07:00

Want to figure out all your computer specs? Stuff like CPU speed, RAM, Hard Drive space, screen resolution, etc? It's actually not as easy as it should be. Maybe I'm missing something, but as far as I can tell, you have to go to separate areas in Windows to figure this it out.

RAM & Windows Version -
Right-click My Computer and select Properties . The screen that pops up will give you info on what version of Windows you're running and how much RAM is currently installed in the machine.

Hard Drive Space -
Open My Computer , right-click the C: drive, and select Properties from the resulting menu. You'll get a handy little Pie chart that gives you used and available HD space.

Screen Resolution -
Right-click the Windows Desktop and select Properties . Hit the Settings tab on the resulting screen. You'll see your resolution and color depth listed there.

CPU Speed -
Windows XP will actually give you this if you right-click My Computer, Properties . However, older versions of Windows won't give you the slightest hint as to the CPU speed.

So, what can you do?

First place to look is towards the top of the screen when the computer first starts up. Some machines will display the type of processor and speed. If you have some sort of splash screen come up when you first turn on the computer, try hitting the Escape key. Sometimes that will remove the splash screen and let you see the "real" screen behind it.

If that doesn't work, you may need to find a third party software utility to check CPU speed.

Low Hard Drive Space warning messages

2007-07-25T09:01:00.002-07:00

In windows XP, when you’re hard disk space of any drive left 200 MB or less than 200 MB, it begins you a alerting message “You are running out of disk space on drive C or D. To free space on this drive by deleting old or unnecessary file, click here.” May be this warning message is useful for the maintenance of your hard disk space, and remind you to uninstalling unnecessary programs and deleting temporary files. But some time this message annoying, especially once you well aware about this situation. To disable this warnings message permanently, you have to edit the computer registry. But the best technique to edit the windows registry keys, always export or backup the whole windows registry keys on backup drive before editing. Because any mistake in Registry can cause problem in your computer to run properly.

Follow the given steps to disable the warning message.

First click on Start button then type Regedit in Run option.
In Registry Editor panel go to the path:
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\ Explorer.
Here in right hand side panel, create the new DWORD value, Value name “NoLowDiskSpaceChecks”.
Now double click on that value, now set its value 1 and press OK.
Now restart your computer after any changes to go into effect.

Useful tip to Hide drives and Partitions

2007-07-25T09:01:00.001-07:00

You can hide your system partitions or drives from other users. This tip is very useful if different type of users are using same computer then you can safe your important drives with this trick from any illegal action. You can use windows XP TweakUI utility or registry editor to hide drives. To work with windows XP TweakUI go to Run and type tweakui then press enter. A small TweakUI interface will open with options to uncheck drives that you want hidden. Click OK to finish it.

You can also use registry editor to edit the computer registry to turn off the display of drives, but be careful to work with computer registry.

Follow the given steps to hide computer drives:

First click on Start button then type Regedit in Run option.
Here locate the location to:

HKey_Current_User \ Software \ Microsoft \ Windows

\ Current Version \ Policies \ Explorer

Here right click on right side of Registry editor panel and add new DWORD then put its value 3FFFFFF.
Now close the registry editor and restart your computer after any changes to go into effect

Window Ilegal Operations

2007-07-25T09:00:00.001-07:00

Don't you hate it when you see this error:
"This program has preformed an illegal operation and will be shut down".

It can happen for a variety of reasons. In my experience, most of the time it's due to a software conflict of some sort, usually with a program that's running in the background.

If you find you have a bunch of stuff sitting in your system tray (it's the little box opposite the Start button on the taskbar), you may find that shutting down some of those programs will help tremendously (most have an option to shut down if you right-click their icon) . It's usually one of them that's the culprit (RealPlayer causes *lots* of problems), especially if the program with the problem seems to be the only thing running.

You can also use the CTRL-ALT-DEL key combination to shut programs down manually, but you also run the risk of accidentally shutting your computer down (Don't close Explorer or Systray). Only do this after you've shut down all your system try icons and are continuing to have problems.

If you shut all of those background programs down and still haven't resolved the conflict, you may have a Windows driver that's messing things up. Try booting to Safe Mode and running the program. (To get to Safe Mode, hit the F8 key just as Windows starts to boot, before the first Windows loading screen comes up). If all works well in safe mode, you may have to re-install or update your drivers.

Another possibility is the program has a corrupted file. Try uninstalling then re-installing the program.

If you're still having problems, contact the program's vender and see if they know what's going on. Although they may not be able to help you, it's still worth a try. Keep in mind that every computer is as unique as you and I once we start using it, so sometimes even the guy who wrote the program won't know why it's causing a problem on your machine and no one else's.

I can usually resolve the illegal operation problem by taking the steps above. Don't panic if you see this error message crop up from time to time at random intervals. It happens, usually after Windows has been running awhile without a re-boot. Only take the actions above if the problem appears every time, or almost every time, you use a particular program.

http://jukiehinagdanan.multiply.com/journal/item/113

2007-07-25T08:59:00.000-07:00

When it comes to our computers, all we tend to think about is the stuff we see on the screen Ã¢â‚¬â€ the software. Most of us tend to neglect the computer itself.

What can you do with your computer to make it run longer? As I just mentioned above, keep it clean.

I can't tell you the number of computers I've opened that have been clogged with dust. In fact, I've seen computers fail and have intermediate problems due to excessive dust build up. In addition, a lot of dust in your computer can cause it to run hotter than it should, shortening its life.

So, what can you do?

If you are brave, you can open your computer's case (unplug it first) about once every 6 months or so and blow it out with that canned air stuff (you can get it at any office supply store). Of course, be careful not to disconnect or damage anything. Make sure you blow out the power supply ( DO NOT open up the power supply unit) and the CPU fan too. Since all this dusting can make a mess, you may want to do it outside.

Here's a shot of one of my dirty old PCs. This one uses a Pentium III processor, so its CPU fan is vertical in orientation. Your CPU fan may be flat on the board.

Also, make sure you keep your can of compressed air upright. The propellant inside those things tends to come out when the can is inverted or at an angle, so be careful.

Oh, if you can get some kind of good "mini-vacuum" that would be OK too. In fact, some would argue vacuums are better because compressed air can force dust deeper into the cracks and crevices of your computer.

That said, I still like canned air better for a several reasons.

1. I've yet to find a little vacuum that was any good. They all seem to leave a ton of dirt behind on the boards. In my opinion, if you can't get all the dirt off, what's the point?

2. In addition, there are a lot of places that even small attachments just can't get to. Again, what's the point of cleaning if you can't get it all?

3. I've been cleaning computers since before DOS, and have yet to actually see a problem with using canned air. In my opinion, compressed air simply removes the most dust. So, I'll stick to my little cans, you can still vacuum if you like :-)

Finally, no matter how tempting it is, washing your computer with the help of a garden hose is always a bad idea :-)

Missing Window Files

2007-07-25T08:58:00.000-07:00

Q:
When I start Windows, I get an error message saying that it can't find a file. I click OK and everything seems alright. How do I get rid of that annoying message?

A:

Probably what has happened is you've uninstalled something that normally loaded when you started Windows. The program is gone, but there is still a reference to it floating around somewhere.

Now, you can go hunting through your autoexec bat, registry, startup menu, and your "ini" files to locate the program reference and get rid of it. However, the "down and dirty" way to do it is to use msconfig (win98 or higher).

Click your Start button, Run . Type in " msconfig " (no quotes) and hit OK.

Click the Startup tab and try to locate the program that is causing the error message. Usually if you look at the end of the "Command" column you can find the file name that Windows claims it can't find. Once located, just uncheck it and hit OK.

Oh, note that if you can't see the end of the command line, you can expand the size of the column (digital elastic ;-). Just hover your mouse over the boundary between the columns and drag it over.

Make sure you pay attention to what you're unchecking so if you uncheck the wrong item, you can go back and re-check it if necessary.

Once you're done, reboot and see if that error message is gone.

Create your own pictures screensaver

2007-07-25T08:57:00.002-07:00

If you have your pictures in computer and also like using a screen saver then you can create your own pictures slide show screen saver. You can use any third party application to run your picture as slide show. But windows XP also supports this feature and takes any picture that stored in your computer “My Pictures” folder to run in random order as a screen saver.

Follow the given steps to create your pictures screen saver.

First store all your pictures in your computer “My Pictures” folder.
Right click on empty area of your desktop and then click on properties.
Now select Screen saver tab on top of the dialog box.
Here click on Screen saver list and choose My Pictures slideshow option.
Now check its preview and press ok button.

Power Management Setting

2007-07-25T08:57:00.001-07:00

Q:
Why does my monitor go black after about 15 minutes of not using the computer?

A:
Windows has a Power Management setting that will shut your monitor off after a specified amount of time. If you don't like when it's shutting the monitor off, you can change it by doing the following:

1. Hit the Start button, Settings, Control Panel (XP users: hit the Start button, Control Panel , then go to Performance and Maintenance link). Then, open the Power Management icon .

2. Look for the " Turn off monitor " drop box. Select the amount of time you want the computer to wait before shutting off the monitor, or tell it not to shut the monitor off at all.

Activate DLL's File of your Computer using Run command

2007-07-25T08:56:00.001-07:00

DLL's (dynamic link library), basically a combination of executables files that can be used by Windows programs to run properly. Some time you received a sudden pop-up message "System could not fine this DLL file" for example binkw32, maxkernl. Normally you received these types of messages when you installed any new application, computer driver program and some time due to computer mishandling. Actually some DLL files are deactivated due to new software's installation but don't worry you can reactivate these file with the help of a simple command called Regsvr32.

To activate the missing dll file go the Start then Run and type here "regsrv32 with missing dll file name" for example you missed "urlmon.dll" file then you will type in Run "regsvr32 urlmon.dll" and press Ok button. Your system will activate this missing file and hopefully you will not get this missing message again.

Disable the Send an error report to Microsoft

2007-07-25T08:55:00.002-07:00

In Windows XP and Windows server 2003, when any computer application crashes, you may receive a message “send error report to Microsoft”. This windows feature may be useful if you are using windows registered version or you have installed Microsoft recommended software’s on your computer, otherwise a simple error message disturbing you, nothing else. This error message close the document; you were working on when the application crashed. You can disable or enable this feature in windows XP.

To disable the Error reporting feature, follow the giving steps:

First Right click on My Computer and select Properties option then go to advanced tab.

Here at bottom click on the button name “Error Reporting”.

Select the item name "Disable error reporting". But it is good think to leave a tick in the check box "But notify me when critical errors occur".

Click "OK" to exit the "Error Reporting" window and then click "OK" again to exit System Properties.

Set Computer Clock

2007-07-25T08:55:00.001-07:00

How do I set my computer's clock?

To set the time, just double-click the clock in your system tray (your system tray is located on your taskbar, opposite your Start button). A "clock screen" will be displayed.

YouÃ¢â‚¬â„¢ll see a box under an analog-looking clock where you can click on the hour, minute, or second.

Either type in the correct time or use the little up and down arrows to do so. That's it.

Create Your Computer Pasword Recovery Disk

2007-07-25T08:54:00.001-07:00

If you are using Windows XP, you can create the windows password reset disk. This password-reset disk will help you to log on to your computer when you forget the computer password. But if you forget your windows password and don't have any password recovery or password reset disk then you will have to reinstall the windows XP on your computer again, because there is no easy way to break the windows password.

Follow the given steps to create password reset disks:

First click on start button to open control panel and then click here on User accounts option.
In User accounts dialog box, double click on the account name for you want to create the password-reset disk.
Click on Prevent a forgotten password under the Related Tasks option on the left side of User accounts dialog box.
Now Welcome page of forgotten password wizard will open and press Next button.
Here insert a new formatted floppy disk in your computer floppy disk drive and press Next button.
Now type your current password and press Next to finish.

SystemPassword Protection

2007-07-25T08:52:00.000-07:00

You should always lock your computer when you leave it. A password will protect your computer from others. There are three or four methods to lock your computer manually, but you can lock your computer automatically using screen saver option. You can turn on automatically lock dialog box after specified time.

Follow the giving steps to set screen saver to lock computer automatically:

First right click on your computer desktop then select the properties option.

In the Display Properties click on Screen saver tab.

Now select any screen saver file then in Wait field set any suitable time to turn on screen saver.

At the end check the Password Protected option and press OK. Now after specified time, when your screen saver will turn on, your computer will be automatically locked.

Troubleshoot Start up Problems

2007-07-25T08:51:00.000-07:00

Do you have problems when you start up your computer? Does it seem to take a long time or you get strange messages? Fortunately Windows has something called "Selective Startup" that will help you figure out what's going wrong.

Go to Start/Run and type "msconfig" (without the quotes) in the box.

Under the "General" tab click "Selective Startup". (Screen shot shows XP, but this will work in Win 98/ME & 2K)

You'll see several check boxes. Uncheck everything and reboot. Then check just the first and reboot. Did startup run smoother without any issues?

Then go back to msconfig, check the next box and reboot. Continue this process until you experience your problem.

The next step requires a time commitment..

Let's say that your problem appeared when you checked "Startup Items". Then go to the Startup tab and click the "Disable All" button. Check off half the boxes on the list and reboot. No issue? Then check the next half and reboot. When the problem happens, narrow down that half until you isolate which item is causing the issue.

Once the offensive item is found, just uncheck it. Continue checking the rest of the boxes and rebooting to make sure you don't have more than one problem.

You should get a clean boot and can get on with life

Security Threat and Data Protection Tips

2007-07-25T08:50:00.000-07:00

Security Threat and Data Protection Tips

Thereat is defined as a computer program, a person, or an event that violates the security system. A threat causes loss of data and attacks the data privacy. Most of the data of an organization stored inside the computer in very important and more valuable than the computer hardware and software. It can be damaged due to many reasons. You must protect your data from illegal access or from damage.

The following are the main threats to data security.

Some authorized user of the data may unintentionally delete or change sensitive data. There are two solutions to this problem.

Firstly, the users must be assigned proper rights to minimize such events. Only the authorized user with certain rights may be allowed to delete or modify data after following a step-by-step process.

Secondly, periodic backup of data should be taken to recover the deleted data.

A proper password protection should be used to use any resource. A log file should also be maintained to keep track of all the activities performed on the data.

Some strong encryption algorithm should be used, so that if any one gets access to the data, he could not be able to make any sense out of it.

Latest antivirus software should be used to scan all data coming into the organization.

Computers and all backing storage devices should be placed in locked rooms. Only authorized users can access these resources.

Authorized users must be asked to change their passwords periodically.

Data Protection

Data protection means making sure that private data belonging to a person or organization is kept hidden from those who are not authorized to use it.

Many organization collect data of their customers. Some of this data is needed for efficient processing the business transactions but much of this data is personal information of the customer. For example, a hospital collects data about the disease history of patients. All the personal data kept by different organizations may be disclosed for some legal purpose. The data protection rules do not allow anyone to disclose personal data of any person. It means that any personal data kept by some organization should never be disclosed to unauthorized persons or organizations under any circumstances

Winsdows Repair Installation

2007-07-25T08:45:00.000-07:00

Some time windows missing the startup files due to the power failure, virus's attack and any illegal action by user. You can solve the windows startup problem with running the windows repair installation. Almost all windows serious problem can be solved using windows repair function. For repair windows XP, you should have the bootable windows CD.

First boot your computer using bootable windows XP, CD. To boot from CD, first change the booting order setting in your system BIOS.
When first blue screen will appear, do not choose any option here; simply press the Enter button to go for next option.
Next you will get "Windows License agreement" page, simply press F8 button to accept this agreement.
Now in second blue screen press the R on your keyboard to repair the windows XP installation. This recovery function repaired the all-missing windows features.
In half an hour windows will complete all recovery process. This recovery process will not disturbed your Desktop and My Document data. May be your some windows sitting will change after completing process.

Winsdows Repair

Trojan Horse targets Mac users

Portable Super Screen Capture 5.56--0

XP Repair Pro 2007 Build v3.5.5 | 1.29 Mb-1

AVG Anti-Virus Professional Edition 7.5.484 Build 1103 | 32.9Mb

Microsoft Student With Encarta Premium 2008 DVD

XP Repair Pro 2007 Build v3.5.5 | 1.29 Mb

about virusess

DVD Rip Master Pro 8.0.4.1

AVG Anti-Virus Professional Edition 7.5.484 Build 1103 | 32.9Mb

XP Repair Pro 2007 Build v3.5.5 | 1.29 Mb

Morpheus Photo Compressor v2.0

A-one DVD To 3GP Ripper v6.40

DVD Rip Master Pro 8.0.4.1

Portable Kingsoft Office 2007 Professional

Portable Super Screen Capture 5.56

J.River Media Center 12.0.301

Active@ Boot Disk Professional v3.0

Astalavista Security Toolbox DVD v4.0

Spy-Kill Deluxe Edition v3.35

Adobe FrameMaker v8.0

VSO Software 2007 All-In-One

Microsoft Student With Encarta Premium 2008 DVD

Cyberlink PowerDVD Ultra/Deluxe 7.3

Mobile Master Pro 6.9.0.2413

Reg Cure 1.4

Media Manager for PSP v2.0

Adobe ColdFusion Enterprise v8.0

Windows XP Professional Corporate SP2 Integrated August 2007

WordMagic Translator Professional Plus v5.0

XP Repair Pro 2007 Build v3.5.5 | 1.29 Mb

XP Repair Pro 2007 Build v3.5.5 | 1.29 Mb

Virus

Safe Mode

Safe Mode

Learning MS-DOS Part 2

Why Use Firefox

1. Tabbed Browsing - Makes surfing the web faster

2. Popup Blocking

3. Find Stuff Easier

4. Simplified Privacy / Annoyance Eliminator

5. Better Bookmarks and History

6. Accessible, Intelligent, Responsive

7. Customizable and Extendable

8. Modern Download Manager

9. Built for standards

10. KISS (Keep It Simple and Straight-Forward)

Using Spybot- Search & Destroy-Anti Spyware

Using Spybot - Search & Destroy - Anti-Spyware

How To Protect Your Computer

How to Protect Your Computer

Understanding Msconfig In Windows

System Restore

How System Restore Works

Disk Space for System Restore

Before You Try System Restore

Use System Restore

Create Restore Points Manually

Use Scheduled Tasks

Troubleshoot System Restore

Do I Still Have to Use Backup?

4 Ways To Speed Up Your Compuer

On This Page

Free Up Disk Space

Speed Up Access to Data

Detect and Repair Disk Errors

Protect Your Computer Against Spyware

How To Troubleshoot Hardware Problems with Device Manager

How to Troubleshoot Hardware Problems with Device Manager

Automatic Updates Fix Compatibility Problem

Restore Your Computer's Performance with Windows XP

Restore Your Computer's Performance with Windows XP

Back Up First

Clear Out Forgotten Programs

Free Up Wasted Space

Defragment Your Computer

Disconnect Unused Network Connections

Remove Autostart Programs

How to Fix Bigger Problems

Using Microsoft Online Crash Analysis