Showing posts with label Safety Tips. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Safety Tips. Show all posts
Take control over XP services
By default Windows XP Home and Pro has allot of services running that aren't needed by most computer users. To take control of what services are running follow the XP Services Guide at Black Viper's website. There is also allot of other very good information there.By default Windows XP Home and Pro has allot of services running that aren't needed by most computer users. To take control of what services are running follow the XP Services Guide at Black Viper's website. There is also allot of other very good information there.
Secure Your Computer!, Completely Eliminate Unwanted Access
This is a great security precaution to take.
Ok well if someone ever wanted to gain access to your computer, say a computer savvy friend or someone was trying to steal some personal info, they could pop in a bootable linux disk and bypass the windows security logon and open a password cracking program and navigate to the file where your passwords are stored. they then could crack your logon password and then access your system and take what they wanted and left and you wouldve never known they were there. What this handy registry key does, is it uses a special type of encryption ultimately superior to the default encryption that is built into Windows XP, so if indeed someone popped in a bootable linux disk and opened your password file...not only would it take an extremely extremely longer amount of time but the chance of success of the crack working is greatly reduced. So to apply this precaution:
1. Click Start, click Run, type regedit, and then click OK.
2. Locate and then click the following key in the registry:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Lsa
3. On the Edit menu, point to New, and then click DWORD Value.
4. Type NoLMHash, and then press ENTER.
5. On the Edit menu, click Modify.
6. Type 1, and then click OK.
7. Restart your computer, and then change your password
Your now almost completely secure from your password being cracked.
To even prevent someone from popping in a bootable linux disk, you could set a bios password. A bios password is a password that is asked to be entered even before the operating system begins loading. So even if the theif could get a linux disc in there, they would need to know the password...or pull the bios battery from the motherboard and reattach it.....but with the time that takes they could just take the hard drive and leave.
To apply a bios password, restart your computer and hit f2 until the bios menu pops up.....use the arrow keys to navigate to the field called system security or something likewise. navigate to the field that says system password, press enter then enter the password you want and then the confirmation. press enter again to go back to the main bios menu, and then press escape and the press save changes and exit. You will now reboot, and every time the computer reboots it will ask you for this password.
You are now every bit more secure.
Ok well if someone ever wanted to gain access to your computer, say a computer savvy friend or someone was trying to steal some personal info, they could pop in a bootable linux disk and bypass the windows security logon and open a password cracking program and navigate to the file where your passwords are stored. they then could crack your logon password and then access your system and take what they wanted and left and you wouldve never known they were there. What this handy registry key does, is it uses a special type of encryption ultimately superior to the default encryption that is built into Windows XP, so if indeed someone popped in a bootable linux disk and opened your password file...not only would it take an extremely extremely longer amount of time but the chance of success of the crack working is greatly reduced. So to apply this precaution:
1. Click Start, click Run, type regedit, and then click OK.
2. Locate and then click the following key in the registry:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Lsa
3. On the Edit menu, point to New, and then click DWORD Value.
4. Type NoLMHash, and then press ENTER.
5. On the Edit menu, click Modify.
6. Type 1, and then click OK.
7. Restart your computer, and then change your password
Your now almost completely secure from your password being cracked.
To even prevent someone from popping in a bootable linux disk, you could set a bios password. A bios password is a password that is asked to be entered even before the operating system begins loading. So even if the theif could get a linux disc in there, they would need to know the password...or pull the bios battery from the motherboard and reattach it.....but with the time that takes they could just take the hard drive and leave.
To apply a bios password, restart your computer and hit f2 until the bios menu pops up.....use the arrow keys to navigate to the field called system security or something likewise. navigate to the field that says system password, press enter then enter the password you want and then the confirmation. press enter again to go back to the main bios menu, and then press escape and the press save changes and exit. You will now reboot, and every time the computer reboots it will ask you for this password.
You are now every bit more secure.
Add a delete on reboot value to right click., Very useful for deleting stubborn files.
You can always use this registry tweak.
This is a tool that will let you add a value to the right click menu called delete on reboot. This will get rid of stubborn files that refuse to be deleted such as, uninstalled applications, viruses, and much more.
Download This Registry File
http://www.techsomething.net/Downloads/regedit.rar
Save the file to your desktop and once it is downloaded, right click it and click merge. You will get a message that confirms your actions, click ok. It will then merge. And from there on out, there will be a delete on reboot key whenever you right click a file.
This is a tool that will let you add a value to the right click menu called delete on reboot. This will get rid of stubborn files that refuse to be deleted such as, uninstalled applications, viruses, and much more.
Download This Registry File
http://www.techsomething.net/Downloads/regedit.rar
Save the file to your desktop and once it is downloaded, right click it and click merge. You will get a message that confirms your actions, click ok. It will then merge. And from there on out, there will be a delete on reboot key whenever you right click a file.
Virtual Memory Low Warning
using Windows XP:
Click Start / Control Panel / Performance and Maintenance / System / Advanced tab
Under Performance click the Settings button.
Click the Advanced tab.
Under Virtual Memory, click the Change button.
Under Paging file size for selected drive,put a tick next to Custom size:.
The minimum should be 1.5 times your memory size. The maximum should be three times your memory. If you continue to have problems, raise the maximum. Keep raising it until you no longer get the message.
Then click the Set button.
Or, the best solution, you could increase the amount of RAM your system has, by buying more, since the hard drive is much slower than RAM.
Click Start / Control Panel / Performance and Maintenance / System / Advanced tab
Under Performance click the Settings button.
Click the Advanced tab.
Under Virtual Memory, click the Change button.
Under Paging file size for selected drive,put a tick next to Custom size:.
The minimum should be 1.5 times your memory size. The maximum should be three times your memory. If you continue to have problems, raise the maximum. Keep raising it until you no longer get the message.
Then click the Set button.
Or, the best solution, you could increase the amount of RAM your system has, by buying more, since the hard drive is much slower than RAM.
Finding Your Computer Ipaddress, website
www.debianhelp.co.uk is a web site that automatically detects and displays your computer's IP address. This can be helpful for configuring a computer on a network, setting up communications software, or troubleshooting an Internet connection.
Datarecovery Version 2.2.1 - Freeware
DataRecovery version 2.2.1
DataRecovery
DataRecovery is freeware and written by TOKIWA
to undelete accidentally deleted files even from recycle bin.
But DataRecovery doesn't assure that all files deleted can be recovered successfully.It mostly depends on your system/configuration and we can't support each of all that varieties.
Compatible operating systems
* Windows95/98/Me/NT4.0/2000/XP/2003
Key-features
* FAT12,FAT16,FAT32,NTFS undeletion
* undelete whole files in a directory in a single click
* search by partial string in the file name
* runnable from floppy disk
* undelete NTFS compressed files
* undelete EFS encrypted files
Install/Un-install
* DataRecovery doesn't need to be installed. Just unpack the archive you downloaded and it's runnable.
* DataRecovery doesn't install anything, so no registry entries or initialization files are left on your computer when you delete the directory of DataRecovery.
File Attributes
* R read-only
* H hidden
* S system
* D directory
* A archive
* N normal(no other attributes are set)
* T temporary
* O offline
* C compressed
* E encrypted
* Rp reparse point
* I index view
* Sp sparse file
DataRecovery
DataRecovery is freeware and written by TOKIWA
to undelete accidentally deleted files even from recycle bin.
But DataRecovery doesn't assure that all files deleted can be recovered successfully.It mostly depends on your system/configuration and we can't support each of all that varieties.
Compatible operating systems
* Windows95/98/Me/NT4.0/2000/XP/2003
Key-features
* FAT12,FAT16,FAT32,NTFS undeletion
* undelete whole files in a directory in a single click
* search by partial string in the file name
* runnable from floppy disk
* undelete NTFS compressed files
* undelete EFS encrypted files
Install/Un-install
* DataRecovery doesn't need to be installed. Just unpack the archive you downloaded and it's runnable.
* DataRecovery doesn't install anything, so no registry entries or initialization files are left on your computer when you delete the directory of DataRecovery.
File Attributes
* R read-only
* H hidden
* S system
* D directory
* A archive
* N normal(no other attributes are set)
* T temporary
* O offline
* C compressed
* E encrypted
* Rp reparse point
* I index view
* Sp sparse file
DriveImage XML - Currently Freeware, Image and Backup Drives and Partitions
DriveImage XML
Image and Backup logical Drives and Partitions
DriveImage XML is an easy to use and reliable program for imaging and backing up partitions and logical drives.
The program allows you to:
* Backup logical drives and partitions to image files
* Browse these images, view and extract files
* Restore these images to the same or a different drive
* Copy directly from drive to drive
Image creation uses Microsoft's Volume Shadow Services (VSS), allowing you to create safe "hot images" even from drives currently in use.
Images are stored in XML files, allowing you to process them with 3rd party tools. Never again be stuck with a useless backup!
Restore images to drives without having to reboot.
DriveImage XML runs under Windows XP Home and XP Professional only.
The program will backup, image and restore drives formatted with FAT 12, 16, 32 and NTFS.
DriveImage XML V1.00
Price: Free for home users
System Requirements:
Pentium processor
256 MB Ram
Windows XP
http://www.runtime.org/dixml.htm
Image and Backup logical Drives and Partitions
DriveImage XML is an easy to use and reliable program for imaging and backing up partitions and logical drives.
The program allows you to:
* Backup logical drives and partitions to image files
* Browse these images, view and extract files
* Restore these images to the same or a different drive
* Copy directly from drive to drive
Image creation uses Microsoft's Volume Shadow Services (VSS), allowing you to create safe "hot images" even from drives currently in use.
Images are stored in XML files, allowing you to process them with 3rd party tools. Never again be stuck with a useless backup!
Restore images to drives without having to reboot.
DriveImage XML runs under Windows XP Home and XP Professional only.
The program will backup, image and restore drives formatted with FAT 12, 16, 32 and NTFS.
DriveImage XML V1.00
Price: Free for home users
System Requirements:
Pentium processor
256 MB Ram
Windows XP
http://www.runtime.org/dixml.htm
Selfimage - Hard Disk Imaging Utility, Freeware
SelfImage is the little hard drive utility with big aspirations.
SelfImage is capable of making an image file of a hard disk or hard disk partition, and can restore an image back to any drive or partition that doesn't have open files. Useful for making backups. Unlike dd for Windows (or cygwin), SelfImage is capable of creating an image of a partition that is currently in use.
Additionally, when run on Windows 2000 or XP, SelfImage can create images of partitions that Windows doesn't even recognize or have mounted on a drive letter. Perfect for the dual-boot system, you can create an image backup of a Linux partition directly from Windows.
Features include:
* Create 1:1 image files of any mounted (or unmounted on Windows 2000/XP) hard disk partition.
* Can create an image of an entire hard disk, including the master boot record, partition table, and all partitions (Windows 2000/XP)
* NEW Restore previously created images to any partition, even mounted ones, as long as it doesn't have open files.
* NEW On-the-fly compression accelerated with parallel CPU support to take advantage of today's hyperthreaded, multi-core and SMP systems.
* Multi-threaded design for maximum throughput and low CPU overhead.
* It's free software - free as in cost, and free as in freedom - released under the GNU General Public License.
SelfImage is a new project. As such, there are lots of plans for the future. Currently on the drawing board:
* IN-PROGRESS Skip reading a disk's "free space", treating it as if it were zero. This will decrease the size of a compressed image and make it process MUCH faster.
* IN-PROGRESS Network Block Device support to make images of disks on remote machines, and restore back to them.
* Restore capability:
o Creation of bootable restore media to restore to drives that can't be restored to from witin Windows
o Ability to read files from an image.
* Output file spanning for easier use of CD/DVD-R media
* Direct backup device output support (direct to CD/DVD/Tape)
* Your idea here!
http://selfimage.excelcia.org/
SelfImage is capable of making an image file of a hard disk or hard disk partition, and can restore an image back to any drive or partition that doesn't have open files. Useful for making backups. Unlike dd for Windows (or cygwin), SelfImage is capable of creating an image of a partition that is currently in use.
Additionally, when run on Windows 2000 or XP, SelfImage can create images of partitions that Windows doesn't even recognize or have mounted on a drive letter. Perfect for the dual-boot system, you can create an image backup of a Linux partition directly from Windows.
Features include:
* Create 1:1 image files of any mounted (or unmounted on Windows 2000/XP) hard disk partition.
* Can create an image of an entire hard disk, including the master boot record, partition table, and all partitions (Windows 2000/XP)
* NEW Restore previously created images to any partition, even mounted ones, as long as it doesn't have open files.
* NEW On-the-fly compression accelerated with parallel CPU support to take advantage of today's hyperthreaded, multi-core and SMP systems.
* Multi-threaded design for maximum throughput and low CPU overhead.
* It's free software - free as in cost, and free as in freedom - released under the GNU General Public License.
SelfImage is a new project. As such, there are lots of plans for the future. Currently on the drawing board:
* IN-PROGRESS Skip reading a disk's "free space", treating it as if it were zero. This will decrease the size of a compressed image and make it process MUCH faster.
* IN-PROGRESS Network Block Device support to make images of disks on remote machines, and restore back to them.
* Restore capability:
o Creation of bootable restore media to restore to drives that can't be restored to from witin Windows
o Ability to read files from an image.
* Output file spanning for easier use of CD/DVD-R media
* Direct backup device output support (direct to CD/DVD/Tape)
* Your idea here!
http://selfimage.excelcia.org/
Free Backup Utility, Can be automated.
I remember a few weeks ago a member was asking about a free backup utility. I found one that can be run manually at the press of an icon or schuduled to automaticly. I have not used it but, I thought since it is freeware some one may want to give it a try.
Snap Backup Utility
Snap Backup Utility
Hard Drive Cloning
For those of you that would like to par take in the outstanding premier windows OS back-up / you should look to cloning
I found the site www.xxclone.com about six months ago //// you can test drive their software for 30 days
its damn easy to use >>> after downloading the program and installing it / open the program / there are only two GUI windows to interact with
the main console window >>>> here you select your SOURCE drive (the drive you want to make a spare BOOTABLE cope of ) and select your TARGET drive >>>> thats the slave drive you are going to use to make the exact bootable replicca of
next pick which type of back-up (clone) you want >>>> for first timers >>>choose FULL BOOTABLE back-up
in the main window >>> there is an advanced button on the lower left corner //// click that //// put a check mark in the three bottable options boxes (i.e. boot.ini & bootmbr etc )
then close the advanced section
click >>>> START
AFTER THE PROGRAM FINSHES YOU WILL HAVE AN EXACT BOOTABLE COPY OF YOUR ENTIRE hard drive !!! to test it >>>>> just change you boot options in the bios to boot from your slave >>>> or shutdown your computer >>>> remove the power plug from you master original drive >>> set your bios to boot from the slave >>>> and yippie >>>>> you wont be able to tell the diff from your original drive compared to your cloned drive !!
I dont spend 10 minutes in the "recovery console" any more trying to fix boogered up OS's / I just change my boot order and yippie >>>> right back up and running !!
thats easy / I have reccomended this program to all my friends and computer customers >>>> I have never had anyone belly flop with this program !!! never had anyone that couldnt do it !!!
I found the site www.xxclone.com about six months ago //// you can test drive their software for 30 days
its damn easy to use >>> after downloading the program and installing it / open the program / there are only two GUI windows to interact with
the main console window >>>> here you select your SOURCE drive (the drive you want to make a spare BOOTABLE cope of ) and select your TARGET drive >>>> thats the slave drive you are going to use to make the exact bootable replicca of
next pick which type of back-up (clone) you want >>>> for first timers >>>choose FULL BOOTABLE back-up
in the main window >>> there is an advanced button on the lower left corner //// click that //// put a check mark in the three bottable options boxes (i.e. boot.ini & bootmbr etc )
then close the advanced section
click >>>> START
AFTER THE PROGRAM FINSHES YOU WILL HAVE AN EXACT BOOTABLE COPY OF YOUR ENTIRE hard drive !!! to test it >>>>> just change you boot options in the bios to boot from your slave >>>> or shutdown your computer >>>> remove the power plug from you master original drive >>> set your bios to boot from the slave >>>> and yippie >>>>> you wont be able to tell the diff from your original drive compared to your cloned drive !!
I dont spend 10 minutes in the "recovery console" any more trying to fix boogered up OS's / I just change my boot order and yippie >>>> right back up and running !!
thats easy / I have reccomended this program to all my friends and computer customers >>>> I have never had anyone belly flop with this program !!! never had anyone that couldnt do it !!!
Hard Disk Data Recovery
I found a good and reliable company for Hard disk data recovery. It is an US based ISO 9001:2000 certified data salvaging & recovery service lab in North America. You can visit them at www.salvagedata.com
You can call them for professional at 800-970-7188.
You can call them for professional at 800-970-7188.
How To Bypass The Recycle Bin And Just Delete It, I want that file gone
Hey ever wondered whether you can just remove a file rather than put it into the recycle bin? You know you delete a file and it goes to the recycle bin, then you can retrieve it if you suddenly remember that you needed it. To bypass the recycle bin and remove files totally, highlight and hold down shift+delete.
When you have deleted a lot of files, it is always a good idea to do a defrag as this speeds up your PC and extends the life of your Hard drive.
When you have deleted a lot of files, it is always a good idea to do a defrag as this speeds up your PC and extends the life of your Hard drive.
Safe Surfing: Two Free Programs To Help Keep You Out Of Dangerous Sites
Hi All:
Anyone using Firefox or IE should know about two add-ons that could help you from falling into a world of hurt - SiteHound and SiteAdvisor:
http://www.sitehound.com/support/help/WebHelp/index.html
http://www.siteadvisor.com/
Both are free programs and both employ the same concept: they collect information about dangerous sites and alert you if you happen to arrive at one.
SiteHound describes itself as follows:
"We test the Web to help keep you safe from spyware, spam, viruses and online scams.
SiteHound's unique database is a global community of users and experts actively reporting potentially malicious websites ..."
The way it works is that if you arrive at a site that others have found harmful, it brings up a page warning you about the site and giving you a choice of whether to enter or not.
McAfee's SiteAdvisor does pretty much the same thing as SiteHound though without interposing a page. Instead a small icon in the toolbar alerts you by changing color. Clicking on the icon will then bring up detailed information about the site including the tragic stories of those who were unwise enough to enter.
After installing these programs I've received very useful alerts from both as one tends to catch what the other misses.
And if everyone were to install them I think it might help considerably to lighten the load of Bleeping Computer's hard-working moderators, a bunch for whom I have nothing but admiration.
Cheers,
Anyone using Firefox or IE should know about two add-ons that could help you from falling into a world of hurt - SiteHound and SiteAdvisor:
http://www.sitehound.com/support/help/WebHelp/index.html
http://www.siteadvisor.com/
Both are free programs and both employ the same concept: they collect information about dangerous sites and alert you if you happen to arrive at one.
SiteHound describes itself as follows:
"We test the Web to help keep you safe from spyware, spam, viruses and online scams.
SiteHound's unique database is a global community of users and experts actively reporting potentially malicious websites ..."
The way it works is that if you arrive at a site that others have found harmful, it brings up a page warning you about the site and giving you a choice of whether to enter or not.
McAfee's SiteAdvisor does pretty much the same thing as SiteHound though without interposing a page. Instead a small icon in the toolbar alerts you by changing color. Clicking on the icon will then bring up detailed information about the site including the tragic stories of those who were unwise enough to enter.
After installing these programs I've received very useful alerts from both as one tends to catch what the other misses.
And if everyone were to install them I think it might help considerably to lighten the load of Bleeping Computer's hard-working moderators, a bunch for whom I have nothing but admiration.
Cheers,
Accidentally Deleted A File?, Try this.
Just did a test run and it checked through all my drives and could recover files from 2 years ago, so may benefit someone.
http://www.fileslost.com/
http://www.fileslost.com/
Easy Windows Crash Fix
I always hear windows crashes/freezes too often. I always thought it was crazy talk though since I knew the following.
If it ever crashes just go ahead and open up the task manager and then go to the Processes tab find explorer.exe and end it, and then go back to the task manager, and in the Menu hit File, New Task (Run...), and then in the box it brings up type explorer.exe
Hope that helps someone, that's saved me from wasting my time, with restarting, waiting it out and other nonsense.
If it ever crashes just go ahead and open up the task manager and then go to the Processes tab find explorer.exe and end it, and then go back to the task manager, and in the Menu hit File, New Task (Run...), and then in the box it brings up type explorer.exe
Hope that helps someone, that's saved me from wasting my time, with restarting, waiting it out and other nonsense.
Recovering Data From A Bad Drive
This would be a recovery process from a mechanical failure of your hard drive, not bad/damaged sectors or corrupted/damaged files;
http://www.datarecoverypros.com/hard-drive...ery-freeze.html
http://geeksaresexy.blogspot.com/2006/01/f...cover-data.html
Seems to work long enough to recover your files
--------------------
http://www.datarecoverypros.com/hard-drive...ery-freeze.html
http://geeksaresexy.blogspot.com/2006/01/f...cover-data.html
Seems to work long enough to recover your files
--------------------
Dangerous Downloads
hi if you are a downloadaholic for every new device,tool, cleaner or time saving gizmo then please follow this tip it will save you hours of rebooting and restoring your system, in my documents make a new folder call this "saved files" make a shortcut to desktop for instant checking, now every time you down load something dont open it save it to your new folder "saved files", when the download as finished open the folder with left click now click on " file " in the left corner from the drop down list click "scan with", i have avg8 which starts a shell scan, the whole thing only takes seconds but can save your bacon on the odd occasion. cheers finbar
The Ten Most Dangerous Things Users Do Online
...The following is our list of "The Ten Most Dangerous Things Users Do Online," along with some explanation of the risks -- and solutions -- associated with each...
1. Clicking on email attachments from unknown senders
2. Installing unauthorized applications
3. Turning off or disabling automated security tools
4. Opening HTML or plain-text messages from unknown senders
5. Surfing gambling, porn, or other legally-risky Websites
6. Giving out passwords, tokens, or smart cards
7. Page 8: Random surfing of unknown, untrusted Websites
8. Attaching to an unknown, untrustworthy WiFi network
9. Filling out Web scripts, forms, or registration pages
10. Participating in chat rooms or social networking sites
1. Clicking on email attachments from unknown senders
2. Installing unauthorized applications
3. Turning off or disabling automated security tools
4. Opening HTML or plain-text messages from unknown senders
5. Surfing gambling, porn, or other legally-risky Websites
6. Giving out passwords, tokens, or smart cards
7. Page 8: Random surfing of unknown, untrusted Websites
8. Attaching to an unknown, untrustworthy WiFi network
9. Filling out Web scripts, forms, or registration pages
10. Participating in chat rooms or social networking sites
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