Computer Tutorials

How to hack wifi

2014-10-26T15:50:00.002+04:00

An internet connection has become a basic necessity in our modern lives. Wireless hotspots (commonly known as Wi-Fi) can be found everywhere!
If you have a PC with a wireless network card, then you must have seen many networks around you. Sadly most of these networks are secured with a network security key.
Have you ever wanted to use one of these networks? You must have desperately wanted to check your mail when you shifted to your new house. The hardest time in your life is when your internet connection is down.
Cracking those Wi-Fi passwords is your answer to temporary internet access. This is a comprehensive guide which will teach even complete beginners how to crack WEP encrypted networks, easily.
If it's WPA2-PSK passwords you need to crack, you can use aircrack-ng or coWPAtty.

How are wireless networks secured?
What you'll need
Setting up CommView for Wi-Fi
Selecting the target network and capturing packets
Waiting...
Now the interesting part... CRACKING!
Are you a visual learner?

Step 1: How Are Wireless Networks Secured?

In a secured wireless connection, internet data is sent in the form of encrypted packets. These packets are encrypted with network security keys. If you somehow manage to get hold of the key for a particular wireless network you virtually have access to the wireless internet connection.
Broadly speaking, there are two main types of encryptions used.

WEP (Wired Equivalent Privacy)

This is the most basic form of encryption. This has become an unsafe option as it is vulnerable and can be cracked with relative ease. Although this is the case many people still use this encryption.

WPA (Wi-Fi Protected Access)

This is the more secure alternative. Efficient cracking of the passphrase of such a network requires the use of a wordlist with the common passwords. In other words you use the old-fashioned method of trial and error to gain access. Variations include WPA-2 which is the most secure encryption alternative till date. Although this can also be cracked using a wordlist if the password is common, this is virtually uncrackable with a strong password. That is, unless the WPA PIN is still enabled (as is the default on many routers).
Hacking WEP passwords is relatively fast, so we'll focus on how to crack them for this guide. If the only networks around you use WPA passwords, you'll want to follow this guide on how to crack WPA Wi-Fi passwords instead.

Step 2: What You'll Need

A compatible wireless adapter:

This is by far the biggest requirement.The wireless card of your computer has to be compatible with the software CommVIew. This ensures that the wireless card can go into monitor mode which is essential for capturing packets.

CommView for Wi-Fi :

This software will be used to capture the packets from the desired network adapter. Click here to download the software from their website.

Aircrack-ng GUI:

After capturing the packets this software does the actual cracking. Click here to download the software from their website.

A little patience is vital!!

Step 3: Setting Up CommView for Wi-Fi

Download the zip file of CommView for Wi-Fi from the website. Extract the file and run setup.exe to install CommView for Wi-Fi. When CommView opens for the first time it has a driver installation guide. Follow the prompts to install the driver for your wireless card.
Run CommView for Wi-Fi.
Click the play icon on the top left of the application window.

Start scanning for wireless networks.
CommView now starts scanning for wireless networks channel by channel. After a few minutes you will have a long list of wireless networks with their security type and signal. Now it is time to choose your target network.

Step 4: Selecting the Target Network and Capturing Packets

A few things to keep in mind before choosing the target wireless network:

This tutorial is only for WEP encrypted networks, so make sure you select a network with WEP next to its name. If you need to crack a WPA encrypted network, follow this tutorial instead.
Choose a network with the highest signal.
Each network will have its details in the right column.
Make sure the WEP network you are choosing has the lowest dB (decibel) value.

Once you have chosen your target network, select it and click Capture to start capturing packets from the desired channel.
Now you might notice that packets are being captured from all the networks in the particular channel. To capture packets only from the desired network follow the given steps.

Right click the desired network and click on copy MAC Address.
Switch to the Rules tab on the top.
On the left hand side choose MAC Addresses.
Enable MAC Address rules.
For 'Action' select 'capture' and for 'Add record' select 'both'.
Now paste the mac address copied earlier in the box below.

We need to capture only data packets for cracking. So, select D on the bar at the top of the window and deselect M (Management packets) and C (Control packets).
Now you have to save the packets so that they can be cracked later. To do this:

Go to the logging tab on top and enable auto saving.
Set Maximum Directory Size to 2000.
Set Average Log File Size to 20.

Step 5: Waiting...

Now the boring part- WAITING!
NOTE: The amount of time taken to capture enough data packets depends on the signal and the networks usage. The minimum number of packets you should capture should be 100,000 for a decent signal.
After you think you have enough packets (at least 100,000 packets), you'll need to export them.

Go to the log tab and click on concatenate logs.
Select all the logs that have been saved.
Do not close CommView for Wi-Fi.
Now navigate to the folder where the concatenated logs have been saved.
Open the log file.
Select File- Export -Wire shark tcpdump format and choose any suitable destination.
This will save the logs with a .cap extension to that location.

Step 6: Now the Interesting Part... CRACKING!

Download Aircrack-ng and extract the zip file.
Open the folder and navigate to 'bin'.
Run Aircrack-ng GUI.
Choose WEP.
Open your .cap file that you had saved earlier.
Click Launch.
In the command prompt type in the index number of your target wireless network.
Wait for a while. If everything goes fine, the wireless key will be shown.

You may also receive a request to try with more packets. In this case wait until more packets have been captured and repeat the steps to be performed after capturing packets.
BEST OF LUCK!

How to hack someones facebook

2014-10-26T15:45:00.001+04:00

How to hack any facebook account without NO keyloging pishing required, PASSWORD HACKING by MR.PIVOT
How to hack any facebook account easily by Reverting/Reseting pass of your victim NO keyloging pishing required
Here is one more interesting tip on how to hack a Facebook account by the method of reverting the password.This method does not involve any skill or anything just a brain would be enough to get you through this trick ! Well,you might think that it is impossible but it is actually true that you can hack any facebook account ! So before we start i would like to tell you what “Reverting” actually means…

What is Reverting ?
Reverting is the process of resetting a password without the knowledge of the actual user ! So this is basically a low level of hacking but it does the job for you !
For more on reverting go here : What exactly is reverting ?
How do I hack my friend’s Facebook ?
Make sure your not logged in to your account.If you are then make sure you sign out and then follow the following methods
1.Go to this link:
http://www.facebook.com/help/contact.php?show_form=hack_login_changed / http://www.facebook.com/help/contact.php?show_form=hacked_cannot_identify
That is the form that you will be using in order to hack your user.
2.Then in “Your E-mail Address” type your E-mail address.
3.Then apply the following options as in the image below.
4.Once you have done that,You will have a question asking “Email associated with the compromised account.” – In that just type “No” and nothing else other than that !
5.In “Your contact email address.” – Type your own email for you to receive the Password Reset Link.
6.In the “Full Name of the Account.” – Type the Name of your victim if you know.If you don’t then:

a.Try finding the Name of the victim by just searching his/her e-mail on Facebook.
b.If that doesn’t work then google the E-mail address of your Victim,that might give you some details.
c.If that also doesn’t work then use the following sites to get them
http://com.lullar.com/ http://www.pipl.com/email/
So if you follow one of the above methods you should be getting the Full Name of your victim.Now lets move on to the next step
7.”Date Of Birth” – In this column you have to enter the Birthday of your Victim.If you know him personally then you should be knowing it.If not you can just social engineer him and somehow make him tell it.Once you get it you have to enter it in that.
8.”URL (web address) of your compromised profile.” – This is just the profile URL of your Victim which can be got easily(Usually of the form: http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=99999)
9.Now your all set ! Before you submit the form just make sure you recheck the whole form if you have done the right thing.Once you do so just click on “Submit”
10.Thats it ! You have done it ! Now you just have to wait for Facebook team to look up for your request ! Once they approve it they will send a link to reset your victim’s Password !

Are Wireless Signals Dangerous to your Health?

2014-10-26T15:38:00.002+04:00

As we found out in a previous article, we have this electromagnetic radiation pumping around the home. This electromagnetic radiation is in the form of Radio Waves, and is coming from the wireless router and wireless adaptor. The wireless signals are Radio Waves, and the Radio Waves are electromagnetic radiation. What we want to find out is this: Are Wireless Signals dangerous to your health?

The Hypersensitive

There is a group in Britain called ElectroSensitivityUK, who are campaigning for a greater awareness of electro-sensitivity. According to this group, some people are hypersensitive to electromagnetic radiation. The group has been campaigning for some time on the issue. Recently, people have been contacting them claiming that wireless signals in the home are causing them to fall ill. Symptoms include nausea, exhaustion, headaches, sleepless, stomach upsets, tinnitus, short-term memory loss, and I forget what else.
Respected author Kate Figes is one such sufferer. After installing a spanking new wireless system in her home, Kate began to feel ill. She felt sick, run-down, and experienced a sensation she describes as like "being prodded all over your body by 1,000 fingers". Getting rid of her wireless equipment cured her illness. Being the mother of two children, she's naturally concerned about the dangers that these wireless signals may pose.
Kate Figes is certainly not alone in her suffering. Many others have reported feeling ill when around wireless equipment. Rod Read, of ElectroSensitivityUK, thinks that between 1 and 3 percent of the population could be hypersensitive to the electromagnetic radiation pumped out by things like wireless signals and mobile phones.

The Scientific View

However, the scientific view on this, and the one adopted by governments around the world, is that the Radio Waves emanating from the likes of wireless routers and mobile phones are harmless. Wired magazine and website quotes one such scientist (Ed Mantiply, of the FCC's radio frequency safety program):
"There is no conclusive evidence that electromagnetic fields hurt health. We have a standard for exposure, which is essentially like a speed limit --there's no guarantee that you're safe below it or unsafe above it."
Mantiply goes on to say, "I believe a good number of people who complain about these things have trauma or obsessive disorders."
Note that he doesn't say "everyone", but a "good number". After all, if there's no guarantee that you're safe below the "exposure standard" then you can't dismiss entirely those who claim to be failing ill from the electromagnetic radiation received from wireless equipment.
One thing that does stand out, however, from Ed's quote is mention of an "exposure standard". What is this? And who set's this standard?

Exposure Standards

An Exposure Standard is how much of a phenomenon (like Radio Waves) you can be exposed to before it is deemed unsafe. Safety guidelines, in other words. The body who oversee these safety standards in the US are the FCC (Federal Communications Commission).
The FCC listened to two august bodies: the NCRPM (National Council on Radiation Protection and Measurements) and the IEEE (Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers). These two organisations in turn gathered evidence from scientists and engineers from a wide-range of fields. They came up with something called the Specific Absorption Rate (SAR).
SAR is a measure of how much Radio Frequency energy is absorbed by living tissue. It is measured in Watts per Kilogram, or Milliwatts per gram. So a value of 1.6 W/Kg for mobile phones means that your head can receive up to this amount of Radio Frequency energy with the phone in use. High levels of Radio Wave exposure causes tissue to heat up. So the higher the level of SAR the more dangerous it is considered to be. A value of 1.6 is considered safe for American heads, but European heads are considered tougher (or denser), so a value of 2 Watts per Kilogram was set. Any higher than about 4 Watts per Kilogram and brain cells tend to bail out. Some people think that even 1.6 and 2 are too high.
For those in the UK, you may be delighted to know that there is no legislation that deals with compliance to any Electromagnetic Frequency guidelines. Though the Health and Safety Executive do acknowledge the SAR values above, and some sort of slap-wrist policy is in the pipeline for 2008. Or possibly not.
In the US, meanwhile, you can be reassured that there is a government body responsible for protecting you from the harmful electromagnetic effect of microwave ovens, television sets and computer monitors - it's the Food and Drug Administration!
To see why this energy is being closely observed, you have to understand the two types of radiation.

Ionising and Non-Ionising Radiation

Radiation is broken down into two categories: Ionising and non-ionising. Ionising radiation is the kind that strips electrons from your body, and is dangerous. Very. Non-ionising radiation doesn't strip away electrons, and is considered sort of safe. Think of these terms as the difference between an X-Ray machine and a toaster. The toaster can be harmful if you stick you fingers in the grill while it's warming up your muffins; the X-Ray machine, meanwhile, can be so harmful that the person operating it has to hide behind protective shielding. So, X-Rays are ionising, toaster non-ionising.
The wireless signals in your home, you'll be glad to hear, are a form of non-ionising radiation - Radio Waves.
The Radio Waves emanating from your Wireless router and Wireless adaptor are about 15 to 20 times lower than that from a mobile phone. However, the SAR values for phones were derived from short bursts to the head. Wireless signals are constant, so it is difficult to compare the two. But the energy intensity is considered to be fairly low. Nevertheless, I couldn't find any SAR values for wireless routers and adaptors, in the same way that mobile phones usually include the SAR value somewhere. The best I could come up with is reassurances from wireless manufacturers that their devices "meet the safety guidelines".

Conclusion

After all this research, we're not that much the wiser, I'm afraid! The jury still seems to be out on whether or not wireless signals are a cause for concern.
A World Health Organisation report into the issue concluded:
" ... there is no convincing evidence that exposure to Radio Frequencies shortens the life span of humans, induces or promotes cancer.
... further studies are needed to draw a more complete picture of health risks, especially about possible cancer risk from exposure to low-levels of RF exposure."
Unless you're one of the unlucky Hypersensitives, try not to worry about it!

What are wireless signals?

2014-10-26T15:37:00.003+04:00

We have these boxes in our living room that send wireless signals to the computers. The computers then sends wireless signals back to the box. But what's being sent? Just what, exactly, is a wireless signal?

Electromagnetic Radiation

Think of the Sun. It blasts out energy. This energy is called Electromagnetic Radiation. It is electrical and magnetic.

The energy is given different names: Gamma Rays, X-Rays, Ultraviolet, Radio waves. The length of each wave is what gives rise to the names. In the image below, we see the depiction of a wave. Notice the crests and troughs. A wave is measured from one crest to another. Gamma Rays will have a very short distance between the crests; radio waves have a longer distance.

Radio Waves

So the wireless signals in the home are radio waves. Radio waves from a wireless router are pumped out at between 2.4 and 2.5 Gigahertz (GHz). This means 2.4 to 2.5 billion waves per second. The width of the wavelength, though, will be about the same.
Waves of the same length can interfere with each other. If you have a Microwave oven, for example, the distance between the crests will be the same as the signals from your wireless router. Your wireless signals will be disrupted if they meet those of your Microwave oven, say.
Other electric devices know to clash with your wireless signals are:

Digital phones
A Baby's cot monitor
Bluetooth gadgets
Other wireless router

This is because the distance between the crests of the waves is more or less the same for all these devices, and so they clash. To solve this problem, you can change the frequency of the radio waves. On a wireless router, this is called changing the channels. What you're doing here is changing the number of waves per second. The changes you're allowed to make are from 2.4 to 2.5 GHz. You make these changes from the router's control panel (called the configuration page). So channel 1 will mean 2.41 GHz, channel 2 will mean 2.42 GHz, channel 3 will mean 2.43 GHz, and so on.
Other problems are objects getting in the way. If a signal is sent to your computer then it may get bounced off walls, windows, glass mirrors, carpeted floors, and many other objects, before it reaches your computer. At the PC end, this can mean a slow connection. The radio waves are travelling at the same rate but, due to signal bounce, it's taken longer to reach its destination. Things that can cause problems for your wireless router are:

Glass doors, glass mirrors, glass in windows
Shiny metallic surfaces
Fish tanks (it's the water)
Internal walls made of brick
Stud partitioning in walls
Carpets

Conclusion

So, the wireless signals bouncing around the home are radio waves. And radio waves are a form of electromagnetic energy.
It may not be such a comforting thought that we've introduced electromagnetic radiation into the home, and that's it's travelling back and forth between the computer and the wireless box! Which begs another, far more important, question: Are these radio waves a danger to your health? In the next article, we'll investigate that very worrying possibility.

SNIT Business School Mauritius

2012-11-12T18:26:00.002+04:00

Review of SNIT Business School.

Is SNIT business School really worth?

SNIT Business school offers a wide variety of NCC ABE courses. Being a student there, I thought I would have a bright career by attending courses offered there. Beginning, there were problems which I thought would resolve. However, little by little, SNIT Business school began to deteriorate in the quality of education it was providing.

Seeing so much problems, finally all my friends decided to write a petition against the direction for the QoS. It was to our great surprise, that all our request was not treated. Problems occurred there are: almost all of the lecturers never give lectures, they just sit with students and talk futile talks, students never get internet connections, however staffs are always online on facebook. SNIT Business School lacks professionalism in its service. Recently, it was confirmed by the Student Administrator that SNIT will not have third year course for students. Almost all students have lost all their years of studying, and now they should search for another university to complete their Degree. SNIT Business School gerants are money-minded people.

Its really a shame. Its all a Business for them. NCC Education offers quality courses, but SNIT isn't on the level required to give such courses. I now wonder how come, NCC approved SNIT for such courses like diploma, advanced diploma and all that. Its a good thing that UoG (University of Greenwich) cancelled all the contract with SNIT Business School. They know very well how the stafss and administrators of this institution are.

I hate SNIT Business School as much as my friends hates this institution. I would never recommend anyone to follow any type of course there. You will lost your money as well as your time. Don't go there!! There are many problems which are in actuality which I didn't mention, but hopefully I definitely will update it within the few days to come.!

How to Bypass BIOS Passwords

2012-11-08T23:31:00.003+04:00

How to Bypass BIOS Passwords

BIOS passwords can add an extra layer of security for desktop and laptop computers. They are used to either prevent a user from changing the BIOS settings or to prevent the PC from booting without a password. Unfortunately, BIOS passwords can also be a liability if a user forgets their password, or changes the password to intentionally lock out the corporate IT department. Sending the unit back to the manufacturer to have the BIOS reset can be expensive and is usually not covered in the warranty. Never fear, all is not lost. There are a few known backdoors and other tricks of the trade that can be used to bypass or reset the BIOS

DISCLAIMER
This article is intended for IT Professionals and systems administrators with experience servicing computer hardware. It is not intended for home users, hackers, or computer thieves attempting to crack the password on a stolen PC. Please do not attempt any of these procedures if you are unfamiliar with computer hardware, and please use this information responsibly. LabMice.net is not responsible for the use or misuse of this material, including loss of data, damage to hardware, or personal injury.

Before attempting to bypass the BIOS password on a computer, please take a minute to contact the hardware manufacturer support staff directly and ask for their recommended methods of bypassing the BIOS security. In the event the manufacturer cannot (or will not) help you, there are a number of methods that can be used to bypass or reset the BIOS password yourself. They include:

Using a manufacturers backdoor password to access the BIOS

Use password cracking software

Reset the CMOS using the jumpers or solder beads.

Removing the CMOS battery for at least 10 minutes

Overloading the keyboard buffer

Using a professional service

Please remember that most BIOS passwords do not protect the hard drive, so if you need to recover the data, simply remove the hard drive and install it in an identical system, or configure it as a slave drive in an existing system. The exception to this are laptops, especially IBM Thinkpads, which silently lock the hard drive if the supervisor password is enabled. If the supervisor password is reset without resetting the and hard drive as well, you will be unable to access the data on the drive.

Backdoor passwords

Many BIOS manufacturers have provided backdoor passwords that can be used to access the BIOS setup in the event you have lost your password. These passwords are case sensitive, so you may wish to try a variety of combinations. Keep in mind that the key associated to "_" in the US keyboard corresponds to "?" in some European keyboards. Laptops typically have better BIOS security than desktop systems, and we are not aware of any backdoor passwords that will work with name brand laptops.

WARNING: Some BIOS configurations will lock you out of the system completely if you type in an incorrect password more than 3 times. Read your manufacturers documentation for the BIOS setting before you begin typing in passwords

Award BIOS backdoor passwords:

ALFAROME ALLy aLLy aLLY ALLY aPAf _award AWARD_SW AWARD?SW AWARD SW AWARD PW AWKWARD awkward BIOSTAR CONCAT CONDO Condo d8on djonet HLT J64 J256 J262 j332 j322 KDD Lkwpeter LKWPETER PINT pint SER SKY_FOX SYXZ syxz shift + syxz TTPTHA ZAAADA ZBAAACA ZJAAADC 01322222
589589 589721 595595 598598

AMI BIOS backdoor passwords:

AMI AAAMMMIII BIOS PASSWORD HEWITT RAND AMI?SW AMI_SW LKWPETER A.M.I. CONDO

PHOENIX BIOS backdoor passwords:

phoenix, PHOENIX, CMOS, BIOS

MISC. COMMON PASSWORDS

ALFAROME BIOSTAR biostar biosstar CMOS cmos LKWPETER lkwpeter setup SETUP Syxz Wodj

OTHER BIOS PASSWORDS BY MANUFACTURER

Manufacturer Password
VOBIS & IBM merlin
Dell Dell
Biostar Biostar
Compaq Compaq
Enox xo11nE
Epox central
Freetech Posterie
IWill iwill
Jetway spooml
Packard Bell bell9
QDI QDI
Siemens SKY_FOX
TMC BIGO
Toshiba Toshiba

TOSHIBA BIOS

Most Toshiba laptops and some desktop systems will bypass the BIOS password if the left shift key is held down during boot

IBM APTIVA BIOS

Press both mouse buttons repeatedly during the boot

Password cracking software

The following software can be used to either crack or reset the BIOS on many chipsets. If your PC is locked with a BIOS administrator password that will not allow access to the floppy drive, these utilities may not work. Also, since these utilities do not come from the manufacturer, use them cautiously and at your own risk.

Cmos password recovery tools 3.1
!BIOS (get the how-to article)
RemPass
KILLCMOS

Using the Motherboard "Clear CMOS" Jumper or Dipswitch settings

Many motherboards feature a set of jumpers or dipswitches that will clear the CMOS and wipe all of the custom settings including BIOS passwords. The locations of these jumpers / dipswitches will vary depending on the motherboard manufacturer and ideally you should always refer to the motherboard or computer manufacturers documentation. If the documentation is unavailable, the jumpers/dipswitches can sometimes be found along the edge of the motherboard, next to the CMOS battery, or near the processor. Some manufacturers may label the jumper / dipswitch CLEAR - CLEAR CMOS - CLR - CLRPWD - PASSWD - PASSWORD - PWD. On laptop computers, the dipswitches are usually found under the keyboard or within a compartment at the bottom of the laptop.
Please remember to unplug your PC and use a grounding strip before reaching into your PC and touching the motherboard. Once you locate and rest the jumper switches, turn the computer on and check if the password has been cleared. If it has, turn the computer off and return the jumpers or dipswitches to its original position.

Removing the CMOS Battery

The CMOS settings on most systems are buffered by a small battery that is attached to the motherboard. (It looks like a small watch battery). If you unplug the PC and remove the battery for 10-15 minutes, the CMOS may reset itself and the password should be blank. (Along with any other machine specific settings, so be sure you are familiar with manually reconfiguring the BIOS settings before you do this.) Some manufacturers backup the power to the CMOS chipset by using a capacitor, so if your first attempt fails, leave the battery out (with the system unplugged) for at least 24 hours. Some batteries are actually soldered onto the motherboard making this task more difficult. Unsoldering the battery incorrectly may damage your motherboard and other components, so please don't attempt this if you are inexperienced. Another option may be to remove the CMOS chip from the motherboard for a period of time.

Note: Removing the battery to reset the CMOS will not work for all PC's, and almost all of the newer laptops store their BIOS passwords in a manner which does not require continuous power, so removing the CMOS battery may not work at all. IBM Thinkpad laptops lock the hard drive as well as the BIOS when the supervisor password is set. If you reset the BIOS password, but cannot reset the hard drive password, you may not be able to access the drive and it will remain locked, even if you place it in a new laptop. IBM Thinkpads have special jumper switches on the motherboard, and these should be used to reset the system.

Overloading the KeyBoard Buffer

On some older computer systems, you can force the CMOS to enter its setup screen on boot by overloading the keyboard buffer. This can be done by booting with the keyboard or mouse unattached to the systems, or on some systems by hitting the ESC key over 100 times in rapid succession.

Jumping the Solder Beads on the CMOS

It is also possible to reset the CMOS by connecting or "jumping" specific solder beads on the chipset. There are too many chipsets to do a breakdown of which points to jump on individual chipsets, and the location of these solder beads can vary by manufacturer, so please check your computer and motherboard documentation for details. This technique is not recommended for the inexperienced and should be only be used as a "last ditch" effort.

Using a professional service

If the manufacturer of the laptop or desktop PC can't or won't reset the BIOS password, you still have the option of using a professional service. Password Crackers, Inc., offers a variety of services for desktop and laptop computers for between $100 and $400. For most of these services, you'll need to provide some type of legitimate proof of ownership. This may be difficult if you've acquired the computer second hand or from an online auction.

Hide Drives and Partitions

2012-11-08T23:28:00.003+04:00

Hide Drives and Partitions

Do you have data on a partition or hard drive that you don't want tampered with or easily accessible to other users? Well, you can hide any drive/partition in Windows XP, NT, and 2000. That means that they won't show up in Explorer or My Computer.

If you want access to that drive from your user account you should create a desktop shortcut before proceeding. Once hidden, you can still access by typing the drive letter and a colon in Start/Run—for example, "D:" will bring up a folder of the contents on your D drive.

The easiest way with Win XP is to use the TweakUI power toy from Mcft. Go to Start/Run and type in "tweakui" (without the quotes).

Go to My Computer/Drives and uncheck the drive/partition(s) you want hidden. Click "Apply" or "OK" when finished.

If you have XP but not Tweak UI you can download it here...
http://www.Mcft.com/windowsxp/downloads/powertoys/xppowertoys.mspx

For Win NT, 2000, and XP you can use the following Registry edit:

*Be sure to back up the Registry before proceeding
http://www.worldstart.com/tips/tips.php/401

Open the Registry Editor by going to Start/Run and typing in "regedit" (without the quotes). Find your way to...

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Mcft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies

Click on "Explorer".

Double-click the "NoDrives" key in the right column. If you don't find a "NoDrives" registry key, just right-click in the right pane and choose "New/DWORD Value" then name the key "NoDrives".

You'll see a value like "0000 00 00 00 00". This is where the fun starts. The four sets of double zeros (after the "0000") are where you'll enter the values for the drive/partitions. Now, stay with me on this—it's not as complicated as it sounds:

The first column is for drives A-H, the second for I-P, the third for Q-X, and the fourth for Y-Z.

The values for each drive are as follows:

1 - A I Q Y
2 - B J R Z
4 - C K S
8 - D L T
16 - E M U
32 - F N V
64 - G O W
80 - H P X

So, let's say you want to hide drive D. In the first column you would put "08". For drive K you would put "04" in the second column.

But what if you want to hide more than one drive in a column? Simply add the values together: D+E = 8+16 = 24. So in the first column you would put "24".

Still baffled? If you have XP then go get TweakUI and save yourself the math.

Whichever method you use, you can rest easy knowing that the files on that drive or partition are less accessible to other users.

Google Tips & Tricks, (utilizing search engine)

2012-11-08T23:27:00.003+04:00

Utilizing search engines

So much information is on the web, its mind boggling. Thankfully we have search
engines to sift through them and catagorize them for us. Unfortunatly, there is still so
much info that even with these search engines, its often a painstakingly slow process
(something comparable to death for a hacker) to find exactly what you're looking for.

Lets get right into it.

I use google.com as my primary search engine because it presently tops the charts as far as
the sites that it indexes which means more pertinent info per search.

1. Page translation.
Just because someone speaks another language doesn't mean they dont have anything useful to say. I use translation tools like the ones found at

http://babelfish.altavista.com
and

http://world.altavista.com
to translate a few key words I am searching for. Be specific and creative because these tools arent the most accurate things on the planet.

2. Directories.
These days everything is about $$$. We have to deal/w SEO (search engine optimization) which seems like a good idea on paper until you do a search for toys and get 5 pornsites in the first 10 results. Using a sites directory will eliminate that. You can narrow your search down easily by looking for the info in specific catagories. (PS google DOES have directories, they're at: directory.google.com)

3. Here are some tips that google refers to as "advanced"

A. "xxxx" / will look for the exact phrase. (google isnt case sensitive)
B. -x / will search for something excluding a certain term
C. filetype:xxx / searches for a particular file extention (exe, mp3, etc)
D. -filetype:xxx / excludes a particular file extention
E. allinurl:x / term in the url
F. allintext:x / terms in the text of the page
G. allintitle:x / terms in the html title of that page
H. allinanchor:x / terms in the links

4. OR
Self explanatory, one or the other... (ie: binder OR joiner)

5. ~X
Synonyms/similar terms (in case you can't think of any yourself)

6. Numbers in a range.
Lets say you're looking for an mp3 player but only want to spend up to $90. Why swim through all the others? MP3 player $0..$90 The 2 periods will set a numeric range to search between. This also works with dates, weights, etc

7. +
Ever type in a search and see something like this:
"The following words are very common and were not included in your search:"
Well, what if those common words are important in your search? You can force google to search through even the common terms by putting a + in front of the denied word.

8. Preferences
It amazes me when I use other peoples PCs that they dont have their google search preferences saved. When you use google as much as I do, who can afford to not have preferences? They're located on the right of the search box, and have several options, though I only find 2 applicable for myself...
A. Open results in new browser
B. Display 10-100 results per page. (I currently use 50 per page, but thats a resolution preference, and 5X's the default)

9. *
Wildcard searches. Great when applied to a previously mentioned method. If you only know the name of a prog, or are looking for ALL of a particular file (ie. you're DLing tunes) something like *.mp3 would list every mp3.

10. Ever see this?
"In order to show you the most relevant results, we have omitted some entries very similar to the X already displayed. If you like, you can repeat the search with the omitted results included." The answer is YES. yes yes yes. Did I mention yes? I meant to.

11. Search EVERYWHERE
Use the engine to its fullest. If you dont find your answer in the web section, try the group section. Hell, try a whole different search engine. Dont limit yourself, because sometimes engines seem to intentionally leave results out.
ex. use google, yahoo, and altavista. search the same terms... pretty close, right? Now search for disney death. Funny, altavista has plenty of disney, but no death...hmmm.

If you've read this far into this tutorial without saying, "Great, a guy that copied a few google help pages and thinks its useful info" then I will show you WHY (besides accuracy, speed, and consistancy finding info on ANYTHING) its nice to know how a search engine works. You combine it/w your knowledge of other protocol.

Example:
Want free music? Free games? Free software? Free movies? God bless FTP! Try this search:
intitle:"Index of music" "rolling stones" mp3
Substitute rolling stones/w your favorite band. No? Try the song name, or another file format. Play with it. Assuming SOMEONE made an FTP and uploaded it, you'll find it.

For example....I wanted to find some Sepultura. If you never heard them before, they're a Brazilian heavy metal band that kicks ass. I started with this:
intitle:"Index of music" "Sepultura" mp3 <-- nothing
intitle:"Index of música" "Sepultura" mp3 <-- nothing
intitle:"Index of musica" "Sepultura" mp3 <-- not good enough
intitle:"Index of music" "Sepultura" * <-- found great stuff, but not enough Sepultura

At this point it occurs to me that I may be missing something, so I try:
intitle:"index of *" "sepultura" mp3 <-- BANG!
(and thats without searching for spelling errors)
Also try inurl:ftp

I find that * works better for me than trying to guess other peoples mis-spellings.

The same method applies for ebooks, games, movies, SW, anything that may be on an FTP site.

I hope you enjoyed this tutorial, and I saw that recently a book and an article was written on the very same topic. I havn't read them as of yet, but check em out, and get back to me if you feel I missed something important and should include anything else.

intitle:"index of" "google hacks" ebook

Ps. I've said it before, I'll say it again... BE CREATIVE.
You'll be surprised what you can find.

Border And Text Effects In Psp, For use with PSP

2012-11-08T23:26:00.000+04:00

Do you want to jazz up your graphics? Want to add a bit of pazazz to your art? Well, this guide features some knowledge, border effects, and even directions to make your own swirlie brushes!

Now, open PSP and get ready to learn! Let's start off with the basics.

-------------------------------------------------
-Border Effects

There are two main types of borders, solid borders, and decorative borders. A solid border is like a colored line that raps around the outside of your image and separates graphics from the rest of the page. You can have borders inside the outside borders to make awesome layer effects. Decorative borders are almost the same, except they are not completely connected. (Example - Dashed Borders)
-------------------------------------------------
Dashed Borders
Open PSP and create an image about 380 x 100 pixels with a white background.

Draw a bit with your paintbrush, just add some color. Now maximize your image.

It should take up the whole page. Now go up to the toolbar on the very top and click "Selections" and go down right below that and click "Select All" There should be a dotted line going around the outside of your image.

We're almost done! YAY! Ok, now look on your keyboard. Go to the very top row next to the F1, F2, F3, F4, and look to the right of the F12 button. It should say "Print Screen". Press it, and it will take a picture of everything currently open on your computer that you can see. Now go to the top toolbar once one. Go under "Edit", move down to "Paste", then move your mouse to the right and select "Paste as New Image"

Now, your image has a dashed border, but you can see all the unwanted parts of your workspace. So go to the left toolbar and click the crop tool. It is the small square with a line through it.

Now drag the segment the crop tool makes just around the image. You might want to zoom in some (Click the magnifying glass on the left toolbar on the spot you want to zoom in). Once you have it fully outlined with the crop segment, double-click to crop it. Wallah! Your image now has a dashed border. So just go to the top toolbar once again, go under "File" and click "Save As". Then, select the spot and name to save it.

-------------------------------------------------
-Font Suggestions and Styles

So you know how to make a cool border for your images. Now what about fonts? Well usually, for siggies, you would put a bigger font saying their name, and a smaller font with sub-text. Look at my signature:

See how it says "Anonymous" in a large font that matches the background; then under it, it says "SOD's coolest member" (my sub-text) in a smaller font? That's the usual format for text on signatures. Of couse, this isn't the only way.

Now, for some font suggestions:

Larger Fonts
Laurenscript
Baby Kruffy (This one is awesome!)
Casual
Chick
Cheri
Walt Disney
Mullet
Dolphins (yippee!)
Jelly Belly
Flubber
Porky's
Gilligan's Island
Cheeseburger

Smaller Fonts
Redensek
Mullet
Georgia
Acknowledge
Tahoma

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

Helpful Links

http://peachie.nu
(a few popups though)

Font Places

http://www.dafont.com/en/
http://www.1001freefonts.com/
http://www.fontfreak.com/
http://www.acidfonts.com/

Anonymity

2012-11-08T23:25:00.000+04:00

Anonymity

I can see you hiding in the shadows over there and so can the logs of all the web sites, FTP servers and other nooks and crannies you visit on the web. The sort of information gathered by these logs and which is available to the webmasters of the sites you visit include the address of the previous site you visited, your IP address, your computer's ID name, your physical location and the name of your ISP along with less personal details such as the operating system you're using and your screen resolution. If someone was snooping through your dustbin to gather information on consumer trends or tracking your every move to see where it is you go everyday you wouldn't be too chuffed would you. Well the web is no different, it's still an invasion of privacy and a threat to security and you don't have to put up with it.

Proxy servers:
Every time you visit a web site, detailed information about your system is automatically provided to the webmaster. This information can be used by hackers to exploit your computer or can be forwarded to the market research departments of consumer corporations who by tracking your activities on the internet are better equipped to direct more relevant spam at you. Your best defence against this is to use what is known as a proxy server, which will hide revealing information from the web sites you visit, allowing you to surf the web anonymously. These work by altering the way in which your browser retrieves web pages or connects to remote servers. With a proxy server set up, whenever you 'ask' IE or Netscape to look at a web page, the request is first sent through an external server which is completely independent of your ISP's servers. This third party server then does the requesting on your behalf so that it appears that the request came from them rather than you and your real IP address is never disclosed to the sites you visit. There is nothing to download and the whole process takes less than a minute.

There are two different ways to use proxy servers and both have their advantages and disadvantages. The first method is to use a web based service. What this involves is visiting the proxy's home page each time you want to browse a web site anonymously. The core component of such a system is the dialog box where you enter the address of the web site you want to visit. Each time you enter the URL of the site you want to browse via the proxy into this box, your personal information, IP address and so on is first encrypted before being sent to the site allowing you to maintain your anonymity. Two of the best examples of this type of web based proxy service are Code:
hxxp://www.rewebber.com/
and hxxp://www.anonymizer.com/.

Obviously one disadvantage of using a web based service like Rewebber or Anonymizer, however, is that you have to visit the proxies home page each time you want to surf anonymously. You could choose to select this page as your default home page, but it's still quite awkward if you're forever site hopping at the speed of light. The second main 'con' is that you often have to put up with extra adverts on the pages you visit. These are automatically inserted into the pages by the proxy - they have to pay for service somehow. More sophisticated and convenient solutions are also on offer yet they come with a price tag.

The second method you can use to protect your privacy via a proxy server involves adjusting the settings of your web browser so that you can surf anonymously without having to visit the home page of your proxy each time. To do this you will first need to know the name of your proxy server and the port number it uses. This information can be gleaned from either a public proxy server list or the FAQ referring to a private subscription based service. Once you have the name of the proxy server you wish to use, select 'Internet Options' from the 'Tools' menu of your browser. Now select 'Connections' followed by 'Settings' and tick the 'use a proxy server' check box. To finish the job all you have to do now is enter the name of the server in the 'address' box, the port which it uses in the 'port' box and go forth and surf anonymously.

Free, manual proxy servers as advertised on anonymity sites, if you can find one at all, are likely to be highly oversubscribed, and as a result the speed at which they retrieve web pages can deteriorate. In which case you can go in pursuit of a public proxy server list and select an alternative from it, which can then be set up manually. To locate such a list you can investigate sites such as Code:
hxxp://www.proxys4all.com/

however, this method isn't problem free either, so before you get too carried away and go jumping on the anonymity bandwagon there are a few things you should be aware of. It's very easy to use proxies to protect your privacy, but often the disadvantages of using them far out weigh the benefits. You see, the problem is that, like the proxy servers provided Rewebber et al, free, public proxies are nearly all over subscribed and so they can slow down web browsing considerably. Digging out fast reliable proxy servers is an art form in itself and is a skill which takes considerable practice. You could find a list of public proxy servers and then experiment with each one until you find one that runs at a reasonable speed, but this can be very time consuming and frustrating. Instead, your search would be much more efficient if you got a dedicated program to carry out this task for you. There are literally dozens of proxy seeking programs around which can do just that, and many of them are available as freeware. What these do is scan the internet for public proxy servers. These servers are then tested for speed and anonymity (not all of them are truly anonymous, even if they claim to be!) and once you find one which suits your requirements you can select it as your default proxy with the click of a button.

One of the most significant advantages of using an automated tool to locate proxy servers is that you do not have to keep editing your proxy settings manually each time you wish to try out a new one. Instead, what you do is enter 'localhost' or '127.0.0.1' into the 'address' box and '8088' into the 'port' box of your browser's proxy settings menu and then forget about it. All future proxy switching is then orchestrated from within your proxy seeking software, which subsequently relays the information to your browser or whatever type of application you are attempting to make anonymous. For those of you who are curious 'localhost' and the IP address '127.0.0.1' are the names by which every computer on the internet refers to itself.
Here's a good selection of links, which should help you to get started - Code:
hxxp://www.a4proxy.com/ Anonymity 4 Proxy
hxxp://www.helgasoft.com/hiproxy/ Hi Proxy
hxxp://www.proxy-verifier.com/ Proxy Verifier
hxxp://www.photono-software.de/ Stealther.

You may find that even when using these programs you have difficulty finding good proxy servers. It is for this reason that many people choose only to use proxy servers temporarily whilst doing something which may land them in trouble with their ISP, or in a worst case scenario with the law. The most obvious example of a situation in which you would want to cover your tracks is when scanning for public FTP servers and subsequently uploading to them. Most other net activities are unlikely to incur serious consequences so under these circumstances you can safely surf the web without a proxy. If you're really serious about protecting your privacy, however, your best bet is probably to invest in a dedicated, stable proxy such as the ones offered by Code:
hxxp://www.ultimate-anonymity.com/ Ultimate Anonymity

These aren't free, but may be worth the expense if you aren't keen on continuously switching proxy servers.

Before splashing out though it may be worth checking if your current ISP has a proxy server of its own which you can use. These aren't there to help you to commit cyber crimes and get away with it, they actually have a legitimate purpose as well - otherwise they wouldn't exist. You see, proxy servers were originally designed to help speed up web page loading times. Proxy servers contain a cache of all the web pages which have been requested via the browsers of the people using the proxy. When someone surfs the web using a proxy, the proxy first checks to see if it already has a copy of the web page stored in its cache. If this version of the page is bang up to date, it is sent to your computer and appears in your browser. If the page found in the cache of the proxy server is older than the one stored on the server hosting the page, a new request to the web server is made and the page is updated in the cache of the proxy before being sent to you. Because these servers use very fast internet connections they can retrieve web pages at much greater speeds than you can via your modest home setup. If these servers are located physically nearer to your home than the web host servers you wish to retrieve web pages from, the speed at which you browse the web will be accelerated.

Anonymity - Cookies
One last important point you need to be aware of before jumping in with both feet is that different programs have to be setup in different ways before being able to make external connections via a proxy server. For example, you can surf the web anonymously by modifying the settings in Internet Explorer or Netscape Navigator as explained earlier in this tutorial, but this will only affect your browser. If you then used Flash FXP to copy a batch of 0-day releases from one FTP server to another, this isn't going to protect you in the slightest. What you have to do is enter the name of the proxy server into each application you wish to make anonymous before making any external connections. This can usually be done by browsing through the preferences of your program to see if there is a 'use proxy server' option available. If there is, make sure you use it!

Cookies:
You have little to fear from the edible variety, but the digital ones can be a major threat to your security and privacy. A cookie is a tiny text file (usually less than 1kb in size), which is created and stored on your hard drive whenever you visit a dynamic (or an interactive if you like) web site. These are used to log your personal details so that you can access members only areas of web sites without having to type in a password every time, or to retain your customised settings so that they are available the next time you visit. If you're using a shared computer, anyone who visits the same site that you have previously logged in to can access your accounts. This is particularly worrying if you have entered your credit card details into a form on an e-commerce site. If your browser is set to automatically fill in these details whenever you
return to a previously visited site, this information could be clearly visible - you don't need me to explain the problems this could entail.

The solution to this problem is to delete any cookies which contain sensitive data once you have completed your transactions. Your cookies will be stored in a different place depending on which operating system you are using so you will have to use your detective skills to find them. As an example, in Windows XP they are located in your 'c:\Documents and Settings\Kylie Minogue\Cookies' directory (that is if your name is Kylie Minogue. Mine isn't in case you're wondering!). If you look in this directory, in some cases it is easy to identify which cookie is associated with which web site, but in other cases it's not so obvious. The cookie which was created when you visited Yahoo.com to check your email may be called kylie minogue@yahoo.txt for example. Unfortunately some cookies refer to the IP address of the site you visited and so look more like kylie minogue@145.147.25.21. These cookies can be selectively deleted one at a time if it's obvious which ones are causing a threat to your security, or you can just wipe out the whole lot in one fell swoop and have them recreated as and when they are required. However, if
you're really struggling to find your cookie jar, you could delete your cookies via your browser's tool bar instead. In Internet Explorer this can be done through the 'Tools' > 'Internet Options' menu items.

If all this sounds like too much hassle, you can always find a labour saving program which will be happy to take the job off your hands. These 'cookie crunching' programs allow you to be more selective when editing, viewing and deleting cookies from your system, and some of them will even prevent cookies from being created in the first place. Yes, I know you're hungry for links so I won't deprive you. Have a look here - Code:
hxxp://www.rbaworld.com/Programs/CookieCruncher/ Cookie
Cruncher
hxxp://www.thelimitsoft.com/ Cookie Crusher
hxxp://www.angove.com/ Cookie Killer
hxxp://www.kburra.com/ Cookie Pal
and
hxxp://www.cookiecentral.com/ Cookie Web Kit.

Web Development Software

2012-10-26T20:35:00.000+04:00

Web development is an area rich in features. The Web has come a long way from its early beginnings as a text-only medium. As online documents get more complex, the tools to create them become more powerful. Although you can still create large, feature-rich sites using a simple text editor, using more complex and powerful tools can make the task much easier. This article introduces several popular tools that can help you create the best online documents possible.

Text-Oriented Editors

Text-oriented editors have been around since the dawn of the cathode-ray tube (CRT, the technology used in most computer display screens). However, today’s editors can be quite powerful and feature-rich, doing much more than simply allowing you to create text documents. This section covers the latest in text-oriented editing.

Simple text editors

Simple text editors—such as Windows Notepad or vi on UNIX/Linux—provide an invaluable service. They allow you, without intervening features, to easily edit text-based documents. As such, they are a logical addition to your Web development toolkit.

However, although you could create an entire site with one of these simple tools, there are better tools for actual creation.

Smart text editors

Smart text editors are editors that understand what you are editing and attempt to help in various ways. For example, Linux users should look into vim or Emacs and enable syntax highlighting when editing documents with embedded code (HTML, CSS, JavaScript, and so on). The Figure shows an example of a large PHP file in vim.

Although it may be hard to tell in the black and white Figure, various elements have been colorized to show where they begin or end. Using methods like this the editor keeps you abreast of what elements have been opened and which have been closed. For example, the editor may highlight quoted text in green. If most of the document turns green, it is likely that you forgot to close a quote somewhere. These editors also offer features such as auto-indenting, which can help you keep your documents
structured.

Windows users have a few choices for smart editors, as well. My favorite is Textpad, which uses document class templates to understand the syntax of almost any coded document. TextPad is loaded with standard editor features. You can find TextPad on the Internet at www.textpad.com.

HTML-specific editors

There are a few non-WYSIWYG editors that understand HTML and provide specific features to help you code. However, Homesite (now owned by Macromedia) has always stood out from the crowd.

Homesite provides the next level of functionality for HTML editing with special tools for entering tags and their parameters, codes for entities, and more. Figure below shows the Homesite main interface, and Figure 34-3 shows a step in the wizard for creating a <table> tag.

Homesite includes a host of other features designed to make your coding easier. Visit Macromedia’s Web site for more information (www.macromedia.com/software /homesite/).

Homesite includes wizards for building more complex tags such as tables.

WYSIWYG HTML Editors

Just as what you see is what you get (WYSIWYG) editors revolutionized word processing, WYSIWYG HTML editors have revolutionized Web publishing. Using such tools designers can design their pages visually and let the tools create the underlying HTML code. This section highlights the three most popular visual tools available for WYSIWYG editing.

Microsoft FrontPage
FrontPage is Microsoft’s Web editing tool. Although most of the Microsoft Office suite of programs can output HTML, FrontPage allows you to manage documents at the site level—creating a template design, navigation controls between pages, and more. Figure below shows the main interface of FrontPage, and Figure below it shows the Web (site) view.

Earlier versions of FrontPage were known for creating non-standard HTML and catering to Microsoft Web extensions. Current versions are much better about adhering to standard code, though the program is still more feature-rich when used with other Microsoft technologies. Still, FrontPage makes a solid, economical choice for a WYSIWYG editor.

Note FrontPage is much more powerful when teamed with a Web server running Microsoft’s FrontPage extensions. If you use FrontPage, it is worth your time investigating running the extensions on your Web server.

Microsoft FrontPage is a visual editor for Web documents.

FrontPage enables you to edit related documents as a site.

You can learn more about FrontPage and download an evaluation copy from Microsoft’s FrontPage site, at www.microsoft.com/office/frontpage/ prodinfo/default.mspx.

NetObjects Fusion
NetObjects Fusion is another site-level design tool that offers WYSIWYG editing. The advantages of using NetObjects Fusion include easy management of entire sites, pixel-accurate designs, and a plethora of features that make publishing on the Web a breeze. Such features include the following:
✦ Advanced scripting support
✦ Automatic e-commerce catalog building
✦ Enhanced photo gallery support
✦ Hooks for including external pages and code
✦ Incremental publishing capability
✦ Flexible meta tag management
✦ Powerful, full-site management tools

Note NetObjects Fusion should not be confused with Macromedia’s ColdFusion product. The former is owned by Website Pros and is a WYSIWYG Web editor. The latter is owned by Macromedia and is a database integration tool for the Web.

Besides the visual tools, NetObjects Fusion provides many ways to customize the
actual code behind the documents, as well. You can learn more about NetObjects
Fusion on the Web at www.netobjects.com.

Macromedia Dreamweaver

The king of all Web document editing programs is currently Macromedia Dreamweaver. Combining the best visual and nonvisual editing tools with several development features, Dreamweaver is the most feature-rich program covered here. Dreamweaver provides as much or as little automation during creation of new documents as you would like. You can create the entire site in text mode, editing HTML code directly. Alternatively, you can use the WYSIWYG design editor to create your documents visually.

Other Tools

Tools to create HTML are only half of the equation when creating online documents. You must also have tools available to do graphic editing and supply any multimedia content you use. This section covers a handful of additional tools necessary to create rich, online content.

Graphic editors

Year’s ago text-only Web pages were the norm. However, today’s Web is a visual feast,
and your documents must incorporate as much imagery as possible to get noticed.

Almost every operating system comes with at least one graphic editor. However, the capabilities of the included editors are quite limited and should not be relied upon for much—the same goes for graphics programs bundled with many scanners, printers, and other graphics peripherals.

In a perfect world you should consider using both a vector-based and a raster-based editing program. Vector-based editors use shapes and lines to create images, while raster-based editors use individual dots (pixels) to create images. Vector-based images are traditionally more exact and clear, but raster-based images allow for more visually striking effects. The best results can be obtained using both—use the vector tools to create solid imagery and raster tools for special effects and finishing work.

Note Only raster-based images (specifically JPEG, GIF, and PNG images) are supported by common user agents.
Vector-based editing tools include the following:
✦ Adobe Illustrator (www.adobe.com/products/illustrator/main.html)
✦ Macromedia Freehand (www.macromedia.com/software/freehand/)

Raster-based editing tools include the following:
✦ Paint Shop Pro (www.jasc.com/products/paintshoppro)
✦ Adobe Photoshop (www.adobe.com/products/photoshop/main.html)
✦ Macromedia Fireworks (www.macromedia.com/software/fireworks/)
✦ The GIMP (www.gimp.org/)

Note Paint Shop Pro actually supports both raster and vector editing.

Note that these tools can be quite expensive—the latest version of Photoshop is several hundred dollars. Of course, Photoshop is without equal for raster editing; no other tool provides as much power and extensibility. Paint Shop Pro is quite capable at a hundred dollars, and The GIMP provides suitable editing without a price tag (it’s Open Source).

Fledgling Web designers needing a handful of tools should look into Macromedia’s Studio product line. The Studio series provides Dreamweaver, Flash, Freehand, and Fireworks in one comprehensive package. Learn more at: www.macromedia.com/software/studio/.

Macromedia Flash

Macromedia Flash is the latest staple for simple multimedia on the Web. Flash provides an animation platform with plenty of power via ActionScript, a flexible scripting language, and can be used for simple buttons or full-blown product demos. Although the interface is a bit idiosyncratic, Flash is an indispensable tool for online animation.The main draw of Flash is two-fold:

✦ It has become a standard on the Web that users expect.
✦ Flash can provide even complex animations in a small package (small file size).
As such, Flash is another tool you should consider adding to your collection. You can learn more about Flash at www.macromedia.com/software/flash/.

Summary
This article introduced several essential and powerful tools you can use to make online document creation and deployment a breeze. You saw how text editor features can help with the tedium of coding and how full-blown Web design packages can ease the creation of even large sites. Although acquiring the right tools may seem costly, consider the time you will save by using them.

What is a DDoS attack?

2012-10-25T19:28:00.001+04:00

One of the major security threats an Internet-connected server might encounter is a DDoS attack. It is a violent, often faceless, intrusion on a server that can leave all of its websites paralyzed.

DoS stands for denial of service, and a DoS attack is one in which the attacker typically exploits a protocol, application, or other means of entry to bombard the server with requests. Eventually, the server cannot handle it anymore, and it either crashes or simply becomes unreachable to anyone else except the attacker. The actual methods for denial of service vary, but the end goal of preventing user access is always the same.

A DDoS attack is a distributed denial of service attack that involves a concerted effort of multiple machines carrying out the DoS. In other words, if the method of denying service is to flood a server with more HTTP requests than it can handle, multiple computers in multiple locations will carry out the attack. This makes it more difficult for a server to stop the attack simply by blocking access from one source.

Although there may be instances where DDoS attacks are planned and purposefully executed by all parties involved, the more likely scenario involves some form of intrusion mechanism that takes control of several machines and uses them as unwilling virtual weapons. The owners of the attacking machines or agents typically do not know that their systems have been compromised and may never know that they were part of a DDoS attack.

It is not always possible to completely prevent a DDoS attack because of the large scale of some attacks and the number of attacking computers involved. As a result, many high-profile websites from large corporations have been brought to their knees. System administrators can, however, be prepared and have a mitigation plan to lessen the effect of an attack..

Why would people do this? Because their parents don’t love them, that’s why. In all seriousness, websites get attacked for numbers of reasons, but most of the time it’s because the owner of the website made someone really upset, it usually happens on high risk websites such as adult, gambling, etc….. Which is why we’re very strict on what type of content we allow on our servers!

So how do we fix it? Well, it depends… If the person getting attacked is on a VPS or dedicated IP, we can simply block that IP with our providers and than everyone is back up. However that’s usually not the case, it’s usually someone on a shared IP which 300+ other websites. In those situations, we have a few options but it usually involves downtime for multiple people that share that IP address. Sometimes it can affect our entire network if it’s big enough when all servers are down, however that’s usually not the case. The solution to fixing a DDOS attack is usually wait it out. We can sometimes filter out the attack but the majority of time, we have to wait until they stop.

Once a customer gets attacked, we no longer host them… We blacklist them from hosting with us in the future because it doesn’t really hurt them by getting attacked, but it hurts us (the web provider) the most. We lose customers due to the downtime caused by the DDOS attack but more importantly, it can cost us a lot of money. We pay our providers based on how many “balls” go through that slide every month, it’s not the typical DSL/Cable connection where we pay $49/month and can use it as much as we want, we pay for usage…. Therefore when thousands of balls continue to go down the slide (even if they aren’t successful) we have to pay for it.

We hope this helps you better understand DDOS attacks, what they are and why they are bad for both you and us.

Windows 8 review

2012-10-23T14:09:00.002+04:00

Windows 8 Release Preview is a prerelease version of Windows 8 that focuses on people and apps and gives you powerful new ways to use social technologies to connect with the people who are important to you. It's Windows reimagined. Windows 8 Release Preview is built on the rock-solid foundation of Windows 7 and has the security and reliability features you expect from Windows, but we’ve made it even better. It’s fast, and it’s made to work on a variety of form factors—especially the new generation of touch devices.

Windows 8 is an operating system produced by Microsoft for use on personal computers, including home and business desktops, laptops, tablets, and home theater PCs. Development of Windows 8 started before the release of its predecessor in 2009. Its existence was first announced at CES 2011, and followed by the release of three pre-release versions from September 2011 to May 2012. The operating system was released to manufacturing on August 1, 2012, and is scheduled for general availability on October 26, 2012

Windows 8 introduces significant changes to the operating system's platform, primarily focused towards improving its experience on mobile devices such as tablets to rival other mobile operating systems (such as Android and iOS), taking advantage of new and emerging technologies (such as USB 3.0, UEFI firmware, near field communications, cloud computing, and the low-power ARM architecture), new security features (such as malware filtering, built-in antivirus software, and support for secure boot, a controversial UEFI feature which requires operating systems to be digitally signed to prevent malware from infecting the boot process), along with other changes and performance improvements.

Windows 8 also introduces a new shell and user interface based off Microsoft's "Metro" design language, featuring a new Start screen with a grid of dynamically updating tiles to represent applications, a new app platform with an emphasis on touchscreen input, the new Windows Store to obtain and purchase applications for the system, and the ability to synchronize programs and settings between multiple devices.

Microsoft unveiled new Windows 8 features and improvements on the first day of the BUILD conference on September 13, 2011. Microsoft released Windows 8 Developer Preview (build 8102) the same day, which included SDKs and developer tools (such as Visual Studio Express and Expression Blend) for developing applications for Windows 8's new interface. According to Microsoft, there were more than 500,000 downloads of the developer preview within the first 12 hours of its release. Originally set to expire on March 11, 2012, in February 2012 the Developer Preview's expiry date was changed to January 15, 2013

New features and functionality in Windows 8 include a faster startup through UEFI integration and the new "Hybrid Boot" mode (which hibernates the Windows kernel on shutdown to speed up the subsequent boot), a new lock screen with a clock and notifications,and the ability for enterprise users to create live USB versions of Windows (known as Windows To Go). Windows 8 also adds native support for USB 3.0 devices, which allow for faster data transfers and improved power management with compatible devices, along with support for near field communication to facilitate sharing and communication between devices.

Windows Explorer, which has been also re-named File Explorer, now includes a ribbon in place of the command bar. File operation dialogs have been updated to provide more detailed statistics, the ability to pause file transfers, and improvements in the ability to manage conflicts when copying files. A new "File History" function allows incremental revisions of files to be backed up to and restored from a secondary storage device, while Storage Spaces allows users to combine different sized hard disks into virtual drives and specify mirroring, parity, or no redundancy on a folder-by-folder basis.

Task Manager has also been redesigned, including a new processes tab with the option to display fewer or more details of running applications and background processes, a heat map using different colors indicating the level of resource usage, network and disk counters, grouping by process type (e.g. applications, background processes and Windows processes), friendly names for processes and a new option which allows to search the web to find information about obscure processes. Additionally, the Blue Screen of Death has been updated with a simpler and modern design with fewer technical information displayed.

Safety and security

Additional security features in Windows 8 include two new authentication methods tailored towards touchscreens (PIN numbers and picture passwords), the addition of antivirus capabilities to Windows Defender (bringing it in parity with Microsoft's Security Essentials software) SmartScreen filtering integrated into the desktop, and support for the "Secure Boot" functionality on UEFI systems to protect against malware infecting the boot process. Parental controls are offered through the integrated Family Safety software, which allows parents to monitor and control their children's activities on a device with activity reports and safety controls. Windows 8 also provides integrated system recovery through the new "Refresh" and "Reset" functions.
Online services and functionality

Windows 8 provides heavier integration with online services from Microsoft and others. A user can now log in to Windows with a Microsoft account, formally known as a Windows Live ID, which can be used to access services and synchronize applications and settings between devices. Windows 8 also ships with a client app for Microsoft's SkyDrive cloud storage service, which also allows apps to save files directly to SkyDrive. A SkyDrive client for the desktop and File Explorer is not included in Windows 8, and must be downloaded separately. Integration with Xbox Live is also offered, including Xbox-branded apps for games, music and video, and the SmartGlass app which can serve as a companion for content on a Xbox 360 video game console. Other bundled apps provide the ability to link to services such as Flickr and Facebook.

Internet Explorer 10 is included as both a desktop program and a touch-optimized app. The latter does not support plugins or ActiveX components, but includes a version of Adobe Flash Player that is optimized for touch and low power usage, but works only on sites included on a whitelist.

Windows 8 also incorporates improved support for mobile broadband; the operating system can now detect the insertion of a SIM card and automatically configure connection settings (including APNs and carrier branding), track and reduce bandwidth use on metered networks. Windows 8 also adds an integrated airplane mode setting to globally disable all wireless connectivity as well. Carriers can also offer account management systems through Windows Store apps, which can be automatically installed as a part of the connection process and offer usage statistics on their respective tile.

Interface and desktop

Windows 8 introduces significant changes to the operating system's user interface, many of which are centered towards improving its experience on tablet computers and other touchscreen devices. The new user interface is based on Microsoft's Metro design language, and features a new tile-based Start screen similar to that of Windows Phone, which has replaced the previous Start menu entirely. The Start screen displays a customizable array of tiles linking to various apps and desktop programs, some of which can display constantly updated information and content through "live tiles".As a form of multi-tasking, apps can be snapped to the side of a screen.

A vertical toolbar known as the charms bar (accessed by swiping from the right edge of a touchscreen, or pointing the cursor at hotspots in the right corners of a screen) provide access to system and app-related functions, such as search, sharing, device management, settings, and a Start button. The traditional desktop environment for running desktop applications is accessed via a tile on the new Start screen. The Start button on the taskbar has been removed in favor of the Start button on the charms bar and a hotspot in the lower-left corner of the screen. Swiping from the left edge of a touchscreen or clicking in the top-left corner of the screen allows one to switch between apps and the Desktop. Pointing the cursor in the top-left corner of the screen and moving down reveals a thumbnail list of active apps. Aside from the removal of the Start button, the desktop on Windows 8 is similar to that of Windows 7, except that the Aero Glass theme has been replaced by a flatter, solid-colored design inspired by the Metro interface.

Secure boot

Windows 8 supports a feature of the UEFI specification known as "Secure boot", which uses a public-key infrastructure to verify the integrity of the operating system and prevent unauthorized programs such as bootkits from infecting the device.

Despite the security benefits of the feature, Microsoft faced criticism (particularly from free software supporters) for mandating that devices receiving its optional certification for Windows 8 have secure boot enabled by default using a key provided by Microsoft. Concerns were raised that secure boot could prevent or hinder the installation of alternate operating systems such as Linux, or that future computers could outright restrict the use of any operating system but Windows using secure boot. In response to the criticism, Microsoft developer Tony Mangefeste stated that "At the end of the day, the customer is in control of their PC. Microsoft’s philosophy is to provide customers with the best experience first, and allow them to make decisions themselves."

Microsoft's certification requirements eventually revealed that that UEFI firmware on x86 systems must allow users to re-configure or turn off secure boot, but that this must not be possible on ARM-based systems (Windows RT). Microsoft faced further criticism for its decision to restrict Windows RT devices by using this functionality, despite it being consistent with other consumer electronics with similar protection measures. No mandate is made regarding the installation of third-party certificates that would enable running alternative software.

Digital Camera Guide

2012-10-22T21:48:00.003+04:00

Digital Camera Guide

So, it's time for a digital camera huh? Well, buying one can be more than a little difficult. What types of features should you look for? Well, this guide will tell you that plus get you a little more familiar with what these cameras are capable of.

Megapixels
When it comes to megapixels, the more the better. I recommend a minimum of 2, but 3 or 4 is great. We did a test to see if a camera with 2.3 megapixels (actually 1.92 - 1600 x 1200) could produce a good quality 8x10.

Turns out it can, if you have the right paper and printer. We used HP Premium Plus photo paper with an HP 970 series printer and made a fantastic 8 x 10. Remember, I was a professional photographer before I got into computing, so I know a good print when I see it :-)

The resolution at 8x10 (we had to crop in to make the picture proportional to 8x10) was only 150 DPI. Most printers would not make a real good 8x10 at that resolution, but this one did. So, if you want to be sure you can get good 8 x 10s, you may want to go with a 3 megapixel camera or better (that gives you around 200 DPI at 8x10 size, still not quite the optimum 300 DPI, but it looks good with the right printer).

Optical vs Digital Zoom
You've probably noticed that most digital cameras have both a specification for digital and optical zoom. Pay the most attention to the optical zoom.

The optical zoom magnifies (zooms in) using glass. The digital zoom basically crops out the edge of the picture to make the subject appear closer, causing you to lose resolution or to get an interpolated resolution (i.e. the camera adds pixels). Neither of which help image quality.

Finally, make sure you get enough (optical) zoom. A 2x zoom isn't going to do much for you. A 3x is the average you'll find in most digital cameras will probably be good for most uses. More on lenses later.

Connection
How does the camera connect to your computer? If you have a USB port in your computer, you'll want a camera that can connect via USB as opposed to a slow serial connection.

On the other hand, if your computer doesn't have a USB port, is there a serial connector available for the camera you're looking at? If so, is it a special order and how long does it take to get it?

Storage
What does the camera use to store images with? If it uses a memory stick, make sure you consider buying additional sticks when you get your camera. A typical 8 meg memory stick that comes with a 2 megapixel camera only holds 5 or 6 images at the camera's best quality.

Some cameras use a 3.5 inch disk for storage. Be careful of these!
Although it may sound like a good idea, a 3 megapixel camera at high resolution produces a 1 meg file (compressed!). That's only 1 picture per disk.

Here's a few more things to look out for when trying to make your digital camera purchase.

Picture Formats
When you're trying to decide on which digital camera to get, check and see how many different picture formats it supports.

You want something that can produce both uncompressed (usually TIFF) and compressed (usually JPEG) images. I personally use the high quality JPEG setting on my camera for most of my shooting. TIFFs are just too big and the difference in quality is not ascertainable by mere mortals.

You also want to be able to shoot at a lower resolution than the camera's maximum. That way, If you're running short on memory, you can squeeze a few more shots on your memory stick.

Auxiliary Lens / Flash
This was a biggie for me. While a 3x zoom may work for the "average" user, I needed something that allowed me to do some wide angle work as well as have a good telephoto lens.

So, the camera I purchased a few months back was a Nikon Coolpix 990 (note that this isn't the only camera that can accept lenses). It has auxiliary lenses that screw into the filter ring on the front of the lens. I now have an ultra-wide fisheye lens plus a nice telephoto.

In addition to lenses, I wanted a good flash. The flash that is built into most of these cameras gives you a top range of 15-20 feet - at best. I wanted a camera that could take a powerful auxiliary flash (again, the Nikon isn't the only camera that fits this requirement, but I liked it better than the rest). If you need more reach than the small built in flash can deliver, then make sure you can attach an external flash to any camera you consider.

As an added bonus, if you get a camera that can take an external flash, you can place that flash on a bracket and eliminate red-eye.

Flash Distance
Speaking of flashes, make sure you check the distance the built in flash is good for. You don't want a camera with a wimpy flash that only travels a few feet (well, unless you can get an external flash for it as described above).

Battery Type
This may not sound important, but it is. Anyone who owns a digital camera can tell you they eat batteries the way a sumo wrestler eats at a buffet.

Make sure the camera can run on regular (or rechargeable) "AA" type batteries. You don't want a camera that eats through expensive lithium batteries every 10 shots or so.

One thing to remember about digital cameras, they do eat through batteries. I recommend getting some Nickel Metal Hydride rechargeable for it. I have some for mine and they have saved me a fortune.

Final Notes
Choosing a digital camera isn't easy. There's a huge selection out there and only you can determine which features you need.

For instance, if you shoot wildlife photos, a small 3x zoom probably isn't going to cut it (unless you can attach auxiliary lenses to it). If you shoot lots of close-ups, make sure the camera has some sort of macro capability. If you shoot big group photos indoors, an external flash may be necessary.

My advice is to make a list of things you want to be able to do with the camera then go to somewhere that can help you make a good purchase decision.

Finally, buy the BEST camera you can possibly afford. Or wait until the price drops on one with the type of features you want.

How to delete an undeletable file?

2012-10-22T21:48:00.000+04:00

Delete An "undeletable" File

Open a Command Prompt window and leave it open.
Close all open programs.
Click Start, Run and enter TASKMGR.EXE
Go to the Processes tab and End Process on Explorer.exe.
Leave Task Manager open.
Go back to the Command Prompt window and change to the directory the AVI (or other undeletable file) is located in.
At the command prompt type DEL <filename> where <filename> is the file you wish to delete.
Go back to Task Manager, click File, New Task and enter EXPLORER.EXE to restart the GUI shell.
Close Task Manager.

Or you can try this

Open Notepad.exe

Click File>Save As..>

locate the folder where ur undeletable file is

Choose 'All files' from the file type box

click once on the file u wanna delete so its name appears in the 'filename' box

put a " at the start and end of the filename
(the filename should have the extension of the undeletable file so it will overwrite it)

click save,

It should ask u to overwrite the existing file, choose yes and u can delete it as normal

Here's a manual way of doing it. I'll take this off once you put into your first post zain.

1. Start
2. Run
3. Type: command
4. To move into a directory type: cd c:\*** (The stars stand for your folder)
5. If you cannot access the folder because it has spaces for example Program Files or Kazaa Lite folder you have to do the following. instead of typing in the full folder name only take the first 6 letters then put a ~ and then 1 without spaces. Example: cd c:\progra~1\kazaal~1
6. Once your in the folder the non-deletable file it in type in dir - a list will come up with everything inside.
7. Now to delete the file type in del ***.bmp, txt, jpg, avi, etc... And if the file name has spaces you would use the special 1st 6 letters followed by a ~ and a 1 rule. Example: if your file name was bad file.bmp you would type once in the specific folder thorugh command, del badfil~1.bmp and your file should be gone. Make sure to type in the correct extension.

How to create an FTP Server on your PC?

2012-10-22T21:47:00.000+04:00

Create An Ftp Server On Your Pc With Serv-u

Requirements:
Serv-U
No-IP.com Website

Quote:
Step 1. Getting a static IP address.
Get a static address for your FTP server. You will want to do this as opposed to using your IP address for several reasons. First, it’s easier keeping up-to-date. Imagine having to change all of your setting every time your IP changed. With No-IP, the No-IP service runs in background on your computer and updates your current IP address with your FTP server’s URL (for example, you get ftp://rkchoolie.serveftp.com). Second reason, you don’t want your IP address posted out there for everyone to see.

1. Go to www.No-IP.com to create a new user account.
2. Fill in the information that is required and the click Register button.
3. Your account has now been created and your account password has been emailed to you.
4. Check your email mailbox and wait for the mail that contains your password
5. Go back to www.No-IP.com and type your email address and password to login to your account.
6. Once in your account, click on Add a host in the left menu
7. Type in the Hostname you want (example: rkchoolie) and pick a Domain from the list (example: ftpserve.com)
8. Check Allow Wildcards and click the Submit button
9. You now have your static address (example: rkchoolie.serveftp.com)
10. Click on your OS link in the Dyn-Update Client in the bottom right menu and follow links to download the client
11. Once downloaded, install the software and type in your email address and password when asked.
12. Finally tick the checkbox near your static address.

You now have a static web address .

Quote:
Step 2. Installing and setting the FTP server
1. Install Serv-U 4.0.
2. Start Serv-U and use the wizard to setup your ftp.
3. Click next until you're asked for an IP address, leave it blank and then click next.
4. Type the domain name you've just registered above (example: preacher.serveftp.com) in the domain name field and then click Next.
5. You are asked if you want to allow anonymous access, select No and then click next.
6. You are then asked to create a named account, check yes and then click next.
7. Type in the user name you wish for this account (example: Harrie) and click next.
8. Type a password for this account (example: $p3c1aL). For security reasons, try to create a password with some letters, numbers and special characters. Then click next.
9. You will then be asked for the Home directory of the account you just created. Select the directory and then click next.
10. Select yes to lock this account to the Home directory. You want to do this so that the user can not go any further up that his home directory. Click next.
11. The account is now set so click finish.

Quote:
Step 3. Configuring user accounts
1. In the left tree-menu, select the account you've just created and then click on the General tab.
2. Check Hide ‘Hidden’ Files.
3. Check Allow only and enter the number one in the box.
4. Set the Max. download speed to what ever you want. If this is an account that many will be using, set it low to save on your bandwidth. I usually have mine set between 10 – 20. If you leave it blank, users will be able to download from you at full bandwidth.
5. Set the Max no. of users to how many you want to be able to log on at one time. This depends on your connection speed but try these (56 - 1, ISDN - 3, ADSL or cable - 5-6 users.)
6. Now, click on the Dir Access tab.
7. You should see the home folder in there. Highlight it and make your permissions.
8. If you only want users to be able to download check only Read, List, & Inherit.
9. If you want users to be able to upload, but to only one particular folder but not download, click the add button and then select that folder. Now highlight the folder and set these permissions on that folder. Check Write, Append, List, Create, & Inherit. Once you have made the permissions click on the up arrow that is located at the bottom right-hand corner. You want this special upload folder to be list first, before the home folder.
10. If there is a folder that you don’t want anyone to have access to, but it is inside the home folder, then click the add button and then select that folder. Now highlight the folder and make sure that all checkboxes are left. Once you have made the permissions click on the up arrow that is located at the bottom right-hand corner. You want this no access folder to be listed at the very top.
11. There are many other different sets of permissions you can play with. I just covered your basics.
12. Your server is now set!
13. Try logging on with the username and password and see if it works.

Common FTP Error Codes

2012-10-22T21:46:00.001+04:00

COMMON FTP ERROR CODES

# Description

110 Restart marker reply. In this case, the text is exact and not left to the particular implementation; it must read: MARK yyyy = mmmm where yyyy is User-process data stream marker, and mmmm server's equivalent marker (note the spaces between markers and "=").

120 Service ready in nnn minutes.

125 Data connection already open; transfer starting.

150 File status okay; about to open data connection.

200 Command okay.

202 Command not implemented, superfluous at this site.

211 System status, or system help reply.

212 Directory status.

213 File status.

214 Help message.On how to use the server or the meaning of a particular non-standard command. This reply is useful only to the human user.

215 NAME system type. Where NAME is an official system name from the list in the Assigned Numbers document.

220 Service ready for new user.

221 Service closing control connection.

225 Data connection open; no transfer in progress.

226 Closing data connection. Requested file action successful (for example, file transfer or file abort).

227 Entering Passive Mode (h1,h2,h3,h4,p1,p2).

230 User logged in, proceed. Logged out if appropriate.

250 Requested file action okay, completed.

257 "PATHNAME" created.

331 User name okay, need password.

332 Need account for login.

350 Requested file action pending further information

421 Service not available, closing control connection.This may be a reply to any command if the service knows it must shut down.

425 Can't open data connection.

426 Connection closed; transfer aborted.

450 Requested file action not taken.

451 Requested action aborted. Local error in processing.

452 Requested action not taken. Insufficient storage space in system.File unavailable (e.g., file busy).

500 Syntax error, command unrecognized. This may include errors such as command line too long.

501 Syntax error in parameters or arguments.

502 Command not implemented.

503 Bad sequence of commands.

504 Command not implemented for that parameter.

530 Not logged in.

532 Need account for storing files.

550 Requested action not taken. File unavailable (e.g., file not found, no access).

551 Requested action aborted. Page type unknown.

552 Requested file action aborted. Exceeded storage allocation (for current directory or dataset).

553 Requested action not taken. File name not allowed.

How to crack Zip Password files?

2012-10-22T09:07:00.002+04:00

Cracking Zip Password Files

Tut On Cracking Zip Password Files..

What is FZC? FZC is a program that cracks zip files (zip is a method of compressing multiple files into one smaller file) that are password-protected (which means you're gonna need a password to open the zip file and extract files out of it). You can get it anywhere - just use a search engine such as altavista.com.

FZC uses multiple methods of cracking - bruteforce (guessing passwords systematically until the program gets it) or wordlist attacks (otherwise known as dictionary attacks. Instead of just guessing passwords systematically, the program takes passwords out of a "wordlist", which is a text file that contains possible passwords. You can get lots of wordlists at www.theargon.com.).

FZC can be used in order to achieve two different goals: you can either use it to recover a lost zip password which you used to remember but somehow forgot, or to crack zip passwords which you're not supposed to have. So like every tool, this one can be used for good and for evil.

The first thing I want to say is that reading this tutorial... is the easy way to learn how to use this program, but after reading this part of how to use the FZC you should go and check the texts that come with that program and read them all. You are also going to see the phrase "check name.txt" often in this text. These files should be in FZC's directory. They contain more information about FZC.

FZC is a good password recovery tool, because it's very fast and also support resuming so you don't have to keep the computer turned on until you get the password, like it used to be some years ago with older cracking programs. You would probably always get the password unless the password is longer than 32 chars (a char is a character, which can be anything - a number, a lowercase or undercase letter or a symbol such as ! or &) because 32 chars is the maximum value that FZC will accept, but it doesn't really matter, because in order to bruteforce a password with 32 chars you'll need to be at least immortal..heehhe.. to see the time that FZC takes with bruteforce just open the Bforce.txt file, which contains such information.

FZC supports brute-force attacks, as well as wordlist attacks. While brute-force attacks don't require you to have anything, wordlist attacks require you to have wordlists, which you can get from www.theargon.com. There are wordlists in various languages, various topics or just miscellaneous wordlists. The bigger the wordlist is, the more chances you have to crack the password.
Now that you have a good wordlist, just get FZC working on the locked zip file, grab a drink, lie down and wait... and wait... and wait...and have good thoughts like "In wordlist mode I'm gonna get the password in minutes" or something like this... you start doing all this and remember "Hey this guy started with all this bullshit and didn't say how I can start a wordlist attack!..." So please wait just a little more, read this tutorial 'till the end and you can do all this "bullshit".

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

*****
hint
*****

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

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Wordlis
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

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

fzc -mwMode number -nzFile.zip -nwWordlist

Where:

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

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

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

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

Example:

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

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

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

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

fzc -mr

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

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

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

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

DirectX Explained

2012-10-22T09:05:00.001+04:00

DirectX explained

Ever wondered just what that enigmatic name means?

Gaming and multimedia applications are some of the most satisfying programs you can get for your PC, but getting them to run properly isn’t always as easy as it could be. First, the PC architecture was never designed as a gaming platform. Second, the wide-ranging nature of the PC means that one person’s machine can be different from another. While games consoles all contain the same hardware, PCs don’t: the massive range of difference can make gaming a headache.

To alleviate as much of the pain as possible, Microsoft needed to introduce a common standard which all games and multimedia applications could follow – a common interface between the OS and whatever hardware is installed in the PC, if you like. This common interface is DirectX, something which can be the source of much confusion.

DirectX is an interface designed to make certain programming tasks much easier, for both the game developer and the rest of us who just want to sit down and play the latest blockbuster. Before we can explain what DirectX is and how it works though, we need a little history lesson.

DirectX history
Any game needs to perform certain tasks again and again. It needs to watch for your input from mouse, joystick or keyboard, and it needs to be able to display screen images and play sounds or music. That’s pretty much any game at the most simplistic level.

Imagine how incredibly complex this was for programmers developing on the early pre-Windows PC architecture, then. Each programmer needed to develop their own way of reading the keyboard or detecting whether a joystick was even attached, let alone being used to play the game. Specific routines were needed even to display the simplest of images on the screen or play a simple sound.

Essentially, the game programmers were talking directly to your PC’s hardware at a fundamental level. When Microsoft introduced Windows, it was imperative for the stability and success of the PC platform that things were made easier for both the developer and the player. After all, who would bother writing games for a machine when they had to reinvent the wheel every time they began work on a new game? Microsoft’s idea was simple: stop programmers talking directly to the hardware, and build a common toolkit which they could use instead. DirectX was born.

How it works
At the most basic level, DirectX is an interface between the hardware in your PC and Windows itself, part of the Windows API or Application Programming Interface. Let’s look at a practical example. When a game developer wants to play a sound file, it’s simply a case of using the correct library function. When the game runs, this calls the DirectX API, which in turn plays the sound file. The developer doesn’t need to know what type of sound card he’s dealing with, what it’s capable of, or how to talk to it. Microsoft has provided DirectX, and the sound card manufacturer has provided a DirectX-capable driver. He asks for the sound to be played, and it is – whichever machine it runs on.

From our point of view as gamers, DirectX also makes things incredibly easy – at least in theory. You install a new sound card in place of your old one, and it comes with a DirectX driver. Next time you play your favourite game you can still hear sounds and music, and you haven’t had to make any complex configuration changes.

Originally, DirectX began life as a simple toolkit: early hardware was limited and only the most basic graphical functions were required. As hardware and software has evolved in complexity, so has DirectX. It’s now much more than a graphical toolkit, and the term has come to encompass a massive selection of routines which deal with all sorts of hardware communication. For example, the DirectInput routines can deal with all sorts of input devices, from simple two-button mice to complex flight joysticks. Other parts include DirectSound for audio devices and DirectPlay provides a toolkit for online or multiplayer gaming.

DirectX versions
The current version of DirectX at time of writing is DirectX 9.0. This runs on all versions of Windows from Windows 98 up to and including Windows Server 2003 along with every revision in between. It doesn’t run on Windows 95 though: if you have a machine with Windows 95 installed, you’re stuck with the older and less capable 8.0a. Windows NT 4 also requires a specific version – in this case, it’s DirectX 3.0a.

With so many versions of DirectX available over the years, it becomes difficult to keep track of which version you need. In all but the most rare cases, all versions of DirectX are backwardly compatible – games which say they require DirectX 7 will happily run with more recent versions, but not with older copies. Many current titles explicitly state that they require DirectX 9, and won’t run without the latest version installed. This is because they make use of new features introduced with this version, although it has been known for lazy developers to specify the very latest version as a requirement when the game in question doesn’t use any of the new enhancements. Generally speaking though, if a title is version locked like this, you will need to upgrade before you can play. Improvements to the core DirectX code mean you may even see improvements in many titles when you upgrade to the latest build of DirectX. Downloading and installing DirectX need not be complex, either.

Upgrading DirectX
All available versions of Windows come with DirectX in one form or another as a core system component which cannot be removed, so you should always have at least a basic implementation of the system installed on your PC. However, many new games require the very latest version before they work properly, or even at all.

Generally, the best place to install the latest version of DirectX from is the dedicated section of the Microsoft Web site, which is found at www.microsoft.com/windows/directx. As we went to press, the most recent build available for general download was DirectX 9.0b. You can download either a simple installer which will in turn download the components your system requires as it installs, or download the complete distribution package in one go for later offline installation.

Another good source for DirectX is games themselves. If a game requires a specific version, it’ll be on the installation CD and may even be installed automatically by the game’s installer itself. You won’t find it on magazine cover discs though, thanks to Microsoft’s licensing terms.

Diagnosing problems

Diagnosing problems with a DirectX installation can be problematic, especially if you don’t know which one of the many components is causing your newly purchased game to fall over. Thankfully, Microsoft provides a useful utility called the DirectX Diagnostic Tool, although this isn’t made obvious. You won’t find this tool in the Start Menu with any version of Windows, and each tends to install it in a different place.

The easiest way to use it is to open the Start Menu’s Run dialog, type in dxdiag and then click OK. When the application first loads, it takes a few seconds to interrogate your DirectX installation and find any problems. First, the DirectX Files tab displays version information on each one of the files your installation uses. The Notes section at the bottom is worth checking, as missing or corrupted files will be flagged here.

The tabs marked Display, Sound, Music, Input and Network all relate to specific areas of DirectX, and all but the Input tab provide tools to test the correct functioning on your hardware. Finally, the More Help tab provides a useful way to start the DirectX Troubleshooter, Microsoft’s simple linear problem solving tool for many common DirectX issues.

Satellite TV for almost free!

2012-10-22T09:04:00.000+04:00

Have satallite tv for almost free IF not free!!!

this is a tut by me that i use at home to get all the channels "not including ppv" for almost free if not free... i have every single channel that dish network offers and i dont pay a single dollar..... ok this is how it goes...
-----------------------------------

Get a dish 500 no matter how… “buy /steal”
Sign up with dish network for like “top 100” that will give you like 100 channels… it would cost you like 29.99 or 39.99 not sure…
Then you need to find 3 friends… or parent friends that are interested in having satellite TV….
Dish network allows you to have up to 4 receivers in one house with no prob.
So the next day, or when ever you find a person or 3 of them… call the dish company and tell them that you would like to activate your 2nd receiver and would like to add some additional channels… for that you would need “receiver # and smart card # of that new receiver that is at your friends house” so you give them the info and they hook the second receiver up… just don’t tell them that the receiver is not in the house…
They will hook up to 3 more receivers per account and when you get all 4 receivers you can get all channels on them and just split your bill between the other 3 people that are using your subscription…
For me it works perfectly… I live in Oregon and I have a receiver in my friends’ house in Washington and two in California USA.
I don’t know if this thing would work anywhere else but it sure works for me

Hardware Firewall

2012-10-22T09:03:00.006+04:00

The best firewall is a hardware firewall that is completely separate from your operating system. It need not be a dedicated router, could be an old pentium box running Linux. Below I have found some sites that have How To's on setting up an outside hardware router using an old computer and using a little linux program that fits on a single floppy disk.

Brief Description:
floppyfw is a router with the advanced firewall-capabilities in Linux that fits on one single floppy disc.

Features:
Access lists, IP-masquerading (Network Address Translation), connection tracked packet filtering and (quite) advanced routing. Package for traffic shaping is also available.
Requires only a 386sx or better with two network interface cards, a 1.44MB floppy drive and 12MByte of RAM ( for less than 12M and no FPU, use the 1.0 series, which will stay maintained. )
Very simple packaging system. Is used for editors, PPP, VPN, traffic shaping and whatever comes up. (now this is looking even more like LRP (may it rest in peace) but floppyfw is not a fork.)
Logging through klogd/syslogd, both local and remote.
Serial support for console over serial port.
DHCP server and DNS cache for internal networks.

floppyfw

h#tp://www.zelow.no/floppyfw/

Sentry Firewall CD-ROM is a Linux-based bootable CDROM suitable for use as an inexpensive and easy to maintain firewall, server, or IDS(Intrusion Detection System) Node. The system is designed to be immediately configurable for a variety of different operating environments via a configuration file located on a floppy disk, a local hard drive, and/or a network via HTTP(S), FTP, SFTP, or SCP.

The Sentry Firewall CD is a complete Linux system that runs off of an initial ramdisk, much like a floppy-based system, and a CD. The default kernel is a current 2.4.x series kernel with various Netfilter patches applied. An OpenWall-patched current 2.2.x kernel is also available on the CD.

Booting from the CDROM is a fairly familiar process. The BIOS execs the bootloader(Syslinux) - which then displays a bootprompt and loads the kernel and ramdisk into memory. Once the kernel is running, the ramdisk is then mounted as root(/). At this point our configuration scripts are run(written in perl) that configure the rest of the system. It is the job of these configure scripts to put the various startup and system files into the proper location using either what is declared in the configuration file(sentry.conf) or the system defaults located in the /etc/default directory.

Most of the critical files used at boot time can be replaced with your own copy when declared in the configuration file. This is essentially how we allow the user to configure the system using his/her own configuration and init files.

All of the binaries, files, scripts, etc, used to create the CD-ROM are also available on the CD-ROM. So, with a little practice, you can easily build and customize your own bootable Sentry Firewall CD. Please see the HOWTO for more details.

Sentry Firewall

htttp://www.sentryfirewall.com/docs.html#overview

Guide to Slipstreaming Service Pack 2

2012-10-22T09:03:00.003+04:00

DarkLegacy's Guide to Slipstreaming Service Pack 2

Note: All images are hosted with ImageShack.

• This guide will allow you to sucsessfully install Service Pack 2 on the original (gold) code of Microsoft Windows XP.
• The version of Windows you have purchased/downloaded does not matter as far as slipstreaming (they're all the same anyway).

Things you need:
• Microsoft Windows XP (duh :P)
• Service Pack 2:

URL http://download.microsoft.com/download/1/6/5/165b076b-aaa9-443d-84f0-73cf11fdcdf8/WindowsXP-KB835935-SP2-ENU.exe

• Windows XP Boot sector:

http://www.neowin.net/downloads/xpboot.bin

• Nero Burning Rom (find it on SoD)

Step One

Insert the Microsoft Windows XP CD into your CD-ROM drive, and create a new folder on your hard-drive labelled "CD".

Copy all of the files from the Windows XP CD to the "CD" folder.

Step Two

Download Service Pack 2 and place it within the root of your hard-drive.
Ex: C:\ D:\ etc..

Step Three

Go to Start -> Run and type in "F:\WindowsXP-KB835935-SP2-ENU.exe -s:F:\CD" (depending on where you put the folder)

The actual command is -s:drive:\folder

Step Four

The Service Pack 2 updater will automatically slipstream Service Pack 2 into your "CD" folder.

Step Five

If you browse back to the CD folder, you'll notice that new folders and files appeared from the SP2 update. At this point, you can include any software you wish onto this CD, but make sure that the size of the folder does not exceed the media you are burning on. If you're not sure, a regular CD is 700 megabytes.

Step Six

Go to Start and Search for files and folders. Go to all files and folders, and type in "wpa.dbl". This is the activation file for your current installed version of XP. Make a copy of the file and paste it into your CD folder.

Step Seven

Open up Nero Smartstart, and click on the icon that looks like two people. This turns the program into "professional mode". Search for create a bootable CD. Click on it, and make sure that your settings agree with the following picture; also make sure that you downloaded the Windows XP boot sector.

Step Eight

Continue onto the next tab, and make sure that your settings agree with the picture:

Step Nine

In this step, you can label your CD whatever the hell you want. I recommend WXPSP2_EN.

Step Ten

Go to "new" and locate your CD folder. Drag all of the files in the CD folder to the compilation window on the right, and nero will calculate how much disk space was used. If it exceeds 700 MB, get rid of some programs that you added to the CD. If you didn't add anything; just push burn.

Step Eleven

Make sure that your settings check with the picture:

Step Twelve

Just push burn, and that's it! Congradulations, you just made a bootable Win XP CD with SP2 slipstreamed!

Free BSD Installation guide

2012-10-22T09:02:00.000+04:00

A step-by-step guide to installing FreeBSD 5. It assumes moderate experience with linux and leaves you with a fully updated FreeBSD system.

FreeBSD Installation

A. 5.x vs 4.x
The first thing to understand about FreeBSD is that there are two lines of development. The -STABLE branch is marked with a 4.x version number and the most recent version is 4.10. It is well tested and very solid, but does not include the most recent technology. The -CURRENT branch, marked with a 5.x version, is the “unstable” branch. However, it is nicely stable at the moment and is coming along quite well. Most users should go with 5.x and these instructions are only valid for that tree.

NOTE: DragonFlyBSD ( www.dragonflybsd.org ) is a continuation of the 4.x line. It uses lock-less (no mutexes) SMP support and a Light Weight Kernel Threading system. It has a lot of promise and is developing at a breakneck pace, but it should still be thought of as “R/D.”

B. Getting Media
I am not going to say much about this. There are links to various ftp mirrors at www.freebsd.org and the directory structure is fairly self-explanatory. There are however several choices for ISO. You should choose the miniinst ISO. It is small and will include everything you need for the base system.

C. Starting Installation
After, the CD boots up you will enter the...ahh.....majestic sysinstall. You can safely ignore most of the options and just choose a standard installation. Most of the install process is pretty easy and anyone who has some experience with linux or unix will be able to handle it without much stress. However, creating partitions and dealing with drives will seem very odd to your standard linux user.

D. Hard Disc Management in FreeBSD
Ok, the first thing to get used to here is that IDE drives are not hda, hdb...etc. They are ad0, ad1 and so forth. SCSI discs are da0, da1...and so on. There is one other thing that is going to freak some people out. You create slices, not partitions, on the disc and then create partitions within those slices. For example, the first partition in the first slice on the first IDE disc would be ad0s1a. Just accept it.

E. Partitioning
Sysinstall will lead you through the partitioning and its fairly easy to understand. The first part will ask you to choose a disc or discs to partition and then will show you a "slice editor." This is where you will create your slice. I advise you to only make one. While multiple slices are easy to deal with, it just adds complication. If this is not your first installation of a BSD type OS, then you can ignore me and why are you reading this again?

After creating your slice, you will be prompted to choose the drive(s) to install an MBR on. The FreeBSD boot loader is nothing to write home about, but it tends towards working. After this step, you can create partitions. There is not much to say here. At the top of the screen it will show your slice(s) and when one of them is selected you can use the controls to create a partition on it. You will need at least a root and swap partition. On the non-swap partitions it is usually a good idea to enable soft-updates.

F. Distribution Sets
This is a simple section, select minimal.

G. Continue Installation
The rest of this is pretty simple. Make sure you install from the CD and not the Internet. The bulk of the install is now done. After it copies files to your disc, it will start the configuration process. This is all pretty self-evident, but there are a couple things you should know.

Network Configuration

Don't be scared by the names, in *BSD devices are named after their drivers. There is also a short description after the name, so you should be able to choose the right one. The rest of the network config is easy, just follow the prompts.

System Console Configuration

You can pretty much ignore this, you may want to look around for your own knowledge and of course you could pick a nice screen saver here, but other then that I would leave it alone for now.

Time Zone

All I have to say here is that if you live in the US, after you choose “America – North and South” hit the end key. The US is at the bottom of the list and hitting end is the quickest way there.

Linux

Say no, we will do this later and with an updated linux_base.

Mouse

OK, welcome to the wonderful and amazing world of moused. Answer the first question truthfully, and then you can tweak the settings in the “Please configure your mouse” dialog. Whatever you do, be sure to enable the daemon. Also, for most users that is all you will have to do. You can safely ignore the other options.

Package Installation

At this point, the installer will ask you to install binary packages. Say no. These binaries are out of date and not included on our CD.

Of users and roots

This isn't the most thrilling section, add a user when it asks you to and set a root password after that. The only thing I have to say about this process is when the new user dialog comes up leave the “Group:” box unchanged and add “wheel” to the Member groups. You also might want to set your shell to /bin/tcsh. As for setting the root password, if you can't handle that we have bigger problems.

Rebooting

Ok, next it will ask if you would like to visit the general config area. Select no and you will be brought back to the main menu. Exit the install, reboot without the CD in and enjoy the boot messages.

H. The Real Post-Install
At this point, I am going to assume that you are now looking at a login prompt and thinking “my my...FreeBSD boots quite quickly doesn't it.” Well, our task is not done yet...there is a reason we did a minimal install. We are going to do most of it ourselves. First, lets upgrade to -CURRENT. This isn't a practice I would usually recommend, but 5.x is close to being tagged stable and -CURRENT is rather solid at the moment. First, I need to explain how things are done in the BSD world.

Sup?

CVS up; you up; we all CVSUP. Cvsup is a very interesting program that I am not going to explain in detail here. All you really need to know is that it updates source trees. You see, that is the thing. You may be used to /usr/src not doing much. In BSD it has a job, it holds the source for the entire base system. However, we did a minimal install and no source is there. It wouldn't be up2date anyway. So, lets fix that. Login as root and type the following: pkg_add -r cvsup-without-gui

pkg_add is the binary installer for FreeBSD and the -r argument tells it to fetch binaries from the net. It will also fetch any deps that you might need. Switch to another console while this is happening and login as root. Do the following:

cd /etc

cp /usr/share/examples/etc/make.conf /etc/make.conf

cp /usr/share/examples/cvsup/standard-supfile /usr

cp /usr/share/examples/cvsup/ports-supfile /usr

chmod u+w /etc/make.conf /usr/standard-supfile /usr/ports-supfile

What was that? Well here is the rundown. Make.conf is the file that controls the building of programs from source on FreeBSD and the supfiles tell cvsup where to get the source for the base system and the ports system, also where to put said source. They come out of /usr/share/examples without the write bit set and that gets annoying. So we set that. Now switch back to the first console and type rehash. This tells tcsh to check its path for new programs. Now, edit the standard supfile that is in /usr. You can either use ee or vi. I like vi. Scroll down to the line that looks a bit odd. It will be something like:

*default host=CHANGE_THIS.FreeBSD.org

The “CHANGE_THIS” is where you put what cvsup server to use. Choose a number between 1 and 9, like 4, and put cvsup4 where CHANGE_THIS is. So it would end up being:

*default host=cvsup4.FreeBSD.org

Now exit your editor and run cvsup /usr/standard-supfile

If everything goes correctly, you will see a lot of text scrolling on the screen. If it says something about a bad connection, try another number.

Make.conf

Now 'tis the time for all good men (and women) to edit their make.conf . This is not difficult, in fact have a look around the file. It may be long, but it is pretty simple. Now, uncomment the CPU setting and the CFLAGS setting. Set the CPU to your CPU (there will be a list in the comments above the setting) and set the CFLAGS to -O2. (NOTE: If the base system fails to build, downgrade your CFLAGS back to -O).

Build Your World

When CVSUP finishes (it will be awhile...go get some coffee), cd to /usr/src and run make buildworld. That command will do exactly what it sounds like. It builds your world, or base system. While its doing that, lets get you a kernel. First, cd to /usr/src/sys/i386/conf then cp GENERIC to some file of your choosing. Any name you want. However, be aware that this is going to show up in a uname -a. Now, crack open your new file and take a look at what a FreeBSD kernel config is like. There are many things you can do here that will improve performance and subtract in size. However, lets keep it simple. Near the top of the file will be the name GENERIC. Change that to your new name. You can now look through the file and you will find several sections that are just for debugging. These will indeed add size and slow down the kernel a bit, but I would leave them for now. Go to the end of the file and make a new line. Add the following:

device pcm

This will add sound support to the kernel. Be aware that you don't need to do this, you can load binary modules at boot or after boot, but this way is easy and sound is used often. Save the file and exit. Go back to your buildworld console and when its done execute make buildkernel KERNCONF=YOUR_KERNEL_CONFIG_NAME

NOTE: NOT THE PATH OF THE KERNEL CONFIG..it knows to look in /usr/src/sys/i386/conf

Installing Your World

This isn't that difficult. First run make installkernel KERNCONF= your config name. Now here is the interesting part. Run mergemaster -p, this program looks through your etc and updates it to match the new /etc in /usr/src. It will display changed files to you, press q and it will give you options. Something like i (install), m (merge) etc. Pick merge and it will open a nice little screen that shows you one file on the right and one on the left. It will go section by section, showing the areas that have changed. Press r or l to choose which section to keep. Its pretty easy to see which section has new stuff and which does not. After the merge, it will prompt you with options for the newly merged file. One of these will be install and this is the one you want. In the latest current, most of what you will be showed is user and group files. Make sure you do select the sections with the new users and groups. After this is done, it will ask you a couple questions that you can say yes to. Now that your /etc is updated run make installworld then reboot.

NOTE: You usually don't need to run mergemaster. However, 5.2.1 is a pretty old release and -CURRENT has come a long way.

I. Ports

Welcome to running current. The rest is easy. cd back to /usr and edit the ports supfile the same way you did the standard one. Run cvsup on it and wait. After its done, you will have a full ports tree. There is not much left to say. You now have a working system and a fully updated one too. To install software from ports cd to /usr/ports/category/softwarename/ and run make install clean . If you want linux binary support, install the linux_base port. To find where it is cd to /usr/ports and run make search name=linux_base | less . Enable loading the kernel modules for linux binary support by editing /etc/rc.conf. Just add the line linux_enable="YES" to the file and your set. If this is a desktop system, I would recommend installing /usr/ports/x11/xorg and your choice of /usr/ports/x11/gnome2 or kde3. Have fun .

Get it from:

http://www.madpenguin.org/cms/?m=show&id=1853

Evolution Of Computer Viruses History Of Viruses

2012-10-22T09:00:00.005+04:00

part 1

Like any other field in computer science, viruses have evolved -a great deal indeed- over the years. In the series of press releases which start today, we will look at the origins and evolution of malicious code since it first appeared up to the present.

Going back to the origin of viruses, it was in 1949 that Mathematician John Von Neumann described self-replicating programs which could resemble computer viruses as they are known today. However, it was not until the 60s that we find the predecessor of current viruses. In that decade, a group of programmers developed a game called Core Wars, which could reproduce every time it was run, and even saturate the memory of other players’ computers. The creators of this peculiar game also created the first antivirus, an application named Reeper, which could destroy copies created by Core Wars.

However, it was only in 1983 that one of these programmers announced the existence of Core Wars, which was described the following year in a prestigious scientific magazine: this was actually the starting point of what we call computer viruses today.

At that time, a still young MS-DOS was starting to become the preeminent operating system worldwide. This was a system with great prospects, but still many deficiencies as well, which arose from software developments and the lack of many hardware elements known today. Even like this, this new operating system became the target of a virus in 1986: Brain, a malicious code created in Pakistan which infected boot sectors of disks so that their contents could not be accessed. That year also saw the birth of the first Trojan: an application called PC-Write.

Shortly after, virus writers realized that infecting files could be even more harmful to systems. In 1987, a virus called Suriv-02 appeared, which infected COM files and opened the door to the infamous viruses Jerusalem or Viernes 13. However, the worst was still to come: 1988 set the date when the “Morris worm” appeared, infecting 6,000 computers.

From that date up to 1995 the types of malicious codes that are known today started being developed: the first macro viruses appeared, polymorphic viruses … Some of these even triggered epidemics, such as MichaelAngelo. However, there was an event that changed the virus scenario worldwide: the massive use of the Internet and e-mail. Little by little, viruses started adapting to this new situation until the appearance, in 1999, of Melissa, the first malicious code to cause a worldwide epidemic, opening a new era for computer viruses.

part 2

This second installment of ‘The evolution of viruses’ will look at how malicious code used to spread before use of the Internet and e-mail became as commonplace as it is today, and the main objectives of the creators of those earlier viruses.
Until the worldwide web and e-mail were adopted as a standard means of communication the world over, the main mediums through which viruses spread were floppy disks, removable drives, CDs, etc., containing files that were already infected or with the virus code in an executable boot sector.

When a virus entered a system it could go memory resident, infecting other files as they were opened, or it could start to reproduce immediately, also infecting other files on the system. The virus code could also be triggered by a certain event, for example when the system clock reached a certain date or time. In this case, the virus creator would calculate the time necessary for the virus to spread and then set a date –often with some particular significance- for the virus to activate. In this way, the virus would have an incubation period during which it didn’t visibly affect computers, but just spread from one system to another waiting for ‘D-day’ to launch its payload. This incubation period would be vital to the virus successfully infecting as many computers as possible.

One classic example of a destructive virus that lay low before releasing its payload was CIH, also known as Chernobyl. The most damaging version of this malicious code activated on April 26, when it would try to overwrite the flash-BIOS, the memory which includes the code needed to control PC devices. This virus, which first appeared in June 1998, had a serious impact for over two years and still continues to infect computers today.

Because of the way in which they propagate, these viruses spread very slowly, especially in comparison to the speed of today’s malicious code. Towards the end of the Eighties, for example, the Friday 13th (or Jerusalem) virus needed a long time to actually spread and continued to infect computers for some years. In contrast, experts reckon that in January 2003, SQLSlammer took just ten minutes to cause global communication problems across the Internet.

Notoriety versus stealth

For the most part, in the past, the activation of a malicious code triggered a series of on screen messages or images, or caused sounds to be emitted to catch the user’s attention. Such was the case with the Ping Pong virus, which displayed a ball bouncing from one side of the screen to another. This kind of elaborate display was used by the creator of the virus to gain as much notoriety as possible. Nowadays however, the opposite is the norm, with virus authors trying to make malicious code as discreet as possible, infecting users’ systems without them noticing that anything is amiss.

pat 3

This third installment of ‘The evolution of viruses’ will look at how the Internet and e-mail changed the propagation techniques used by computer viruses.

Internet and e-mail revolutionized communications. However, as expected, virus creators didn’t take long to realize that along with this new means of communication, an excellent way of spreading their creations far and wide had also dawned. Therefore, they quickly changed their aim from infecting a few computers while drawing as much attention to themselves as possible, to damaging as many computers as possible, as quickly as possible. This change in strategy resulted in the first global virus epidemic, which was caused by the Melissa worm.

With the appearance of Melissa, the economic impact of a virus started to become an issue. As a result, users -above all companies- started to become seriously concerned about the consequences of viruses on the security of their computers. This is how users discovered antivirus programs, which started to be installed widely. However, this also brought about a new challenge for virus writers, how to slip past this protection and how to persuade users to run infected files.

The answer to which of these virus strategies was the most effective came in the form of a new worm: Love Letter, which used a simple but effective ruse that could be considered an early type of social engineering. This strategy involves inserting false messages that trick users into thinking that the message includes anything, except a virus. This worm’s bait was simple; it led users to believe that they had received a love letter.

This technique is still the most widely used. However, it is closely followed by another tactic that has been the center of attention lately: exploiting vulnerabilities in commonly used software. This strategy offers a range of possibilities depending on the security hole exploited. The first malicious code to use this method –and quite successfully- were the BubbleBoy and Kakworm worms. These worms exploited a vulnerability in Internet Explorer by inserting HTML code in the body of the e-mail message, which allowed them to run automatically, without needing the user to do a thing.

Vulnerabilities allow many different types of actions to be carried out. For example, they allow viruses to be dropped on computers directly from the Internet -such as the Blaster worm-. In fact, the effects of the virus depend on the vulnerability that the virus author tries to exploit.

part 4

In the early days of computers, there were relatively few PCs likely to contain “sensitive” information, such as credit card numbers or other financial data, and these were generally limited to large companies that had already incorporated computers into working processes.

In any event, information stored in computers was not likely to be compromised, unless the computer was connected to a network through which the information could be transmitted. Of course, there were exceptions to this and there were cases in which hackers perpetrated frauds using data stored in IT systems. However, this was achieved through typical hacking activities, with no viruses involved.

The advent of the Internet however caused virus creators to change their objectives, and, from that moment on, they tried to infect as many computers as possible in the shortest time. Also, the introduction of Internet services -like e-banking or online shopping- brought in another change. Some virus creators started writing malicious codes not to infect computers, but, to steal confidential data associated to those services. Evidently, to achieve this, they needed viruses that could infect many computers silently.

Their malicious labor was finally rewarded with the appearance, in 1986, of a new breed of malicious code generically called “Trojan Horse”, or simply “Trojan”. This first Trojan was called PC-Write and tried to pass itself off as the shareware version of a text processor. When run, the Trojan displayed a functional text processor on screen. The problem was that, while the user wrote, PC-Write deleted and corrupted files on the computers’ hard disk.

After PC-Write, this type of malicious code evolved very quickly to reach the stage of present-day Trojans. Today, many of the people who design Trojans to steal data cannot be considered virus writers but simply thieves who, instead of using blowtorches or dynamite have turned to viruses to commit their crimes. Ldpinch.W or the Bancos or Tolger families of Trojans are examples of this

part 5

Even though none of them can be left aside, some particular fields of computer science have played a more determinant role than others with regard to the evolution of viruses. One of the most influential fields has been the development of programming languages.

These languages are basically a means of communication with computers in order to tell them what to do. Even though each of them has its own specific development and formulation rules, computers in fact understand only one language called "machine code".

Programming languages act as an interpreter between the programmer and the computer. Obviously, the more directly you can communicate with the computer, the better it will understand you, and more complex actions you can ask it to perform.

According to this, programming languages can be divided into "low and high level" languages, depending on whether their syntax is more understandable for programmers or for computers. A "high level" language uses expressions that are easily understandable for most programmers, but not so much for computers. Visual Basic and C are good examples of this type of language.

On the contrary, expressions used by "low level" languages are closer to machine code, but are very difficult to understand for someone who has not been involved in the programming process. One of the most powerful, most widely used examples of this type of language is "assembler".

In order to explain the use of programming languages through virus history, it is necessary to refer to hardware evolution. It is not difficult to understand that an old 8-bit processor does not have the power of modern 64-bit processors, and this of course, has had an impact on the programming languages used.

In this and the next installments of this series, we will look at the different programming languages used by virus creators through computer history:

- Virus antecessors: Core Wars

As was already explained in the first chapter of this series, a group of programs called Core Wars, developed by engineers at an important telecommunications company, are considered the antecessors of current-day viruses. Computer science was still in the early stages and programming languages had hardly developed. For this reason, authors of these proto-viruses used a language that was almost equal to machine code to program them.

Curiously enough, it seems that one of the Core Wars programmers was Robert Thomas Morris, whose son programmed -years later- the "Morris worm". This malicious code became extraordinarily famous since it managed to infect 6,000 computers, an impressive figure for 1988.

- The new gurus of the 8-bits and the assembler language.

The names Altair, IMSAI and Apple in USA and Sinclair, Atari and Commodore in Europe, bring memories of times gone by, when a new generation of computer enthusiasts "fought" to establish their place in the programming world. To be the best, programmers needed to have profound knowledge of machine code and assembler, as interpreters of high-level languages used too much run time. BASIC, for example, was a relatively easy to learn language which allowed users to develop programs simply and quickly. It had however, many limitations.

This caused the appearance of two groups of programmers: those who used assembler and those who turned to high-level languages (BASIC and PASCAL, mainly).

Computer aficionados of the time enjoyed themselves more by programming useful software than malware. However, 1981 saw the birth of what can be considered the first 8-bit virus. Its name was "Elk Cloner", and was programmed in machine code. This virus could infect Apple II systems and displayed a message when it infected a computer.

part 6

Computer viruses evolve in much the same way as in other areas of IT. Two of the most important factors in understanding how viruses have reached their current level are the development of programming languages and the appearance of increasingly powerful hardware.

In 1981, almost at the same time as Elk Kloner (the first virus for 8-bit processors) made its appearance, a new operating system was growing in popularity. Its full name was Microsoft Disk Operating System, although computer buffs throughout the world would soon refer to it simply as DOS.

DOS viruses

The development of MS DOS systems occurred in parallel to the appearance of new, more powerful hardware. Personal computers were gradually establishing themselves as tools that people could use in their everyday lives, and the result was that the number of PCs users grew substantially. Perhaps inevitably, more users also started creating viruses. Gradually, we witnessed the appearance of the first viruses and Trojans for DOS, written in assembler language and demonstrating a degree of skill on the part of their authors.

Far less programmers know assembler language than are familiar with high-level languages that are far easier to learn. Malicious code written in Fortran, Basic, Cobol, C or Pascal soon began to appear. The last two languages, which are well established and very powerful, are the most widely used, particularly in their TurboC and Turbo Pascal versions. This ultimately led to the appearance of “virus families”: that is, viruses that are followed by a vast number of related viruses which are slightly modified forms of the original code.

Other users took the less ‘artistic’ approach of creating destructive viruses that did not require any great knowledge of programming. As a result, batch processing file viruses or BAT viruses began to appear.

Win16 viruses

The development of 16-bit processors led to a new era in computing. The first consequence was the birth of Windows, which, at the time, was just an application to make it easier to handle DOS using a graphic interface.

The structure of Windows 3.xx files is rather difficult to understand, and the assembler language code is very complicated, as a result of which few programmers initially attempted to develop viruses for this platform. But this problem was soon solved thanks to the development of programming tools for high-level languages, above all Visual Basic. This application is so effective that many virus creators adopted it as their ‘daily working tool’. This meant that writing a virus had become a very straightforward task, and viruses soon appeared in their hundreds. This development was accompanied by the appearance of the first Trojans able to steal passwords. As a result, more than 500 variants of the AOL Trojan family -designed to steal personal information from infected computers- were identified.

part 7

This seventh edition on the history of computer viruses will look at how the development of Windows and Visual Basic has influenced the evolution of viruses, as with the development of these, worldwide epidemics also evolved such as the first one caused by Melissa in 1999.

While Windows changed from being an application designed to make DOS easier to manage to a 32-bit platform and operating system in its own right, virus creators went back to using assembler as the main language for programming viruses.

Versions 5 and 6 of Visual Basic (VB) were developed, making it the preferred tool, along with Borland Delphi (the Pascal development for the Windows environment), for Trojan and worm writers. Then, Visual C, a powerful environment developed in C for Windows, was adopted for creating viruses, Trojans and worms. This last type of malware gained unusual strength, taking over almost all other types of viruses. Even though the characteristics of worms have changed over time, they all have the same objective: to spread to as many computers as possible, as quickly as possible.

With time, Visual Basic became extremely popular and Microsoft implemented part of the functionality of this language as an interpreter capable of running script files with a similar syntax.

At the same time as the Win32 platform was implemented, the first script viruses also appeared: malware inside a simple text file. These demonstrated that not only executable files (.EXE and .COM files) could carry viruses. As already seen with BAT viruses, there are also other means of propagation, proving the saying "anything that can be executed directly or through a interpreter can contain malware." To be specific, the first viruses that infected the macros included in Microsoft Office emerged. As a result, Word, Excel, Access and PowerPoint become ways of spreading ‘lethal weapons’, which destroyed information when the user simply opened a document.

Melissa and self-executing worms

The powerful script interpreters in Microsoft Office allowed virus authors to arm their creations with the characteristics of worms. A clear example is Melissa, a Word macro virus with the characteristics of a worm that infects Word 97 and 2000 documents. This worm automatically sends itself out as an attachment to an e-mail message to the first 50 contacts in the Outlook address book on the affected computer. This technique, which has unfortunately become very popular nowadays, was first used in this virus which, in 1999, caused one of the largest epidemics in computer history in just a few days. In fact, companies like Microsoft, Intel or Lucent Technologies had to block their connections to the Internet due to the actions of Melissa.

The technique started by Melissa was developed in 1999 by viruses like VBS/Freelink, which unlike its predecessor sent itself out to all the contacts in the address book on the infected PC. This started a new wave of worms capable of sending themselves out to all the contacts in the Outlook address book on the infected computer. Of these, the worm that most stands out from the rest is VBS/LoveLetter, more commonly known as ‘I love You’, which emerged in May 2000 and caused an epidemic that caused damage estimated at 10,000 million euros. In order to get the user’s attention and help it to spread, this worm sent itself out in an e-mail message with the subject ‘ILOVEYOU’ and an attached file called ‘LOVE-LETTER-FOR-YOU.TXT.VBS’. When the user opened this attachment, the computer was infected.

As well as Melissa, in 1999 another type of virus emerged that also marked a milestone in virus history. In November of that year, VBS/BubbleBoy appeared, a new type of Internet worm written in VB Script. VBS/BubbleBoy was automatically run without the user needing to click on an attached file, as it exploited a vulnerability in Internet Explorer 5 to automatically run when the message was opened or viewed. This worm was followed in 2000 by JS/Kak.Worm, which spread by hiding behind Java Script in the auto-signature in Microsoft Outlook Express, allowing it to infect computers without the user needing to run an attached file. These were the first samples of a series of worms, which were joined later on by worms capable of attacking computers when the user is browsing the Internet.

How to change your IP in less than one minute?

2012-10-22T09:00:00.001+04:00

How To: Change Your Ip In Less Then 1 Minute

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

You should now be at an MSDOS prompt screen.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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WEP (Wired Equivalent Privacy)

WPA (Wi-Fi Protected Access)

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Step 3: Setting Up CommView for Wi-Fi

Step 4: Selecting the Target Network and Capturing Packets

Step 5: Waiting...

Step 6: Now the Interesting Part... CRACKING!

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How to change your IP in less than one minute?