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Network Security - All About Firewalls

noreply@blogger.com (The Master) — Mon, 14 Apr 2008 04:50:00 +0000

The Importance of Firewalls to [Network Security]

Most networks should have a firewall in place before they are up and running. A firewall is the most common form of"network security" employed by companies large and small. If you own a personal computer your anti-virus software company may at one time or another have offered you firewall protection.

A firewall on a home [network security] is just as important as one on a corporate network. Why? Most smaller networks have as many [network security] issues that larger corporate networks have. A firewall helps protect a network against potential data loss, corruption and hackers.

What Is A Firewall

A firewall is nothing more than a fancy term used to describe a blockade that prevents outside forces from accessing your [network security]. It is called a firewall because it prevent information or data loss from one place to another. Typically a firewall is some program or hardware that you have to install in your computer that helps filter information coming from the Web to your computer network. A firewall provides a series of filters that screens information allowing only safe information to pass through to your network.

In a large company, multiple computers are often linked using network cards. Companies usually provide multiple connections to the Internet. In order to protect all of these computers a firewall is necessary so that only certain people can access corporate computers through the Web (those that are authorized to do so). While a firewall is not foolproof it basically does a good job of protecting computers from Internet threats at their connection points.
Article by Frank Owen, visit his web site on network security for more information on network security
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Frank_Owen

How to Secure Your Network?

noreply@blogger.com (The Master) — Mon, 14 Apr 2008 04:49:00 +0000

Network security is a method of preventing your computer network from the unauthorized user access, email spoofing, Trojan horses, denial of service, hacking, viruses, spyware and intruders etc. There are different securities mechanisms are being employed to protect the network. If a hacker gets control of your computer or network, he can send viruses or steal your company’s confidential data. Similarly if any computer in your network is infected with the viruses or spyware, all other computers will also be infected if no proper security system has been implemented. Securing a network is most important job description of the network administrators, security specialists, network engineers and IT managers. You can secure your computer network by the following security methods.

Network Security Tips

Use Virus Protection Software
Don’t open unknown email attachments
Use regular backup of your critical data
Make boot disk
Use Firewall program
Authenticate users
Implement Security Policy in your network
Keep an inventory of your software and hardware and make a list of all the devices.
SCAN TCP/UDP services
Don’t provide more rights to the system resources than necessary.
Perform the network security testing and find the holes and fix them.
Place your server at very safe place.
Prepare an Assistant Network Administrator and train him/her about all the security related matters so that he/she can control the network in your absence.
Monitor the user’s activities on the internet and block all the unwanted websites, web applications which have security risks.

If you have wireless network then the following methods are very helpful in securing your wireless network.

Wireless Network Security

SSID (Service Set Identifier) –
WPA (Wi-Fi Protected Access)
WEP (Wired Equivalent Privacy)
TKIP (Temporal Key Integrity Protocol)
MAC Addressing (Media Access Control)
DHCP (Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol)
Encryption
B. Bashir manages this website Networking Tutorials and regularly writes articles on various topics such as Computer Networking, Network Troubleshooting Tips Wireless Networking, Computer Hardware, Certifications, How Tos, Network Security Guide and computer tips.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Bushra_Bashir

Why Conduct A Network Security Check?

noreply@blogger.com (The Master) — Mon, 14 Apr 2008 04:49:00 +0000

These days a lot of organizations of different kinds have realized the benefit of having a network and, hence, are eagerly seeking to establish networks on their premises. Having a network on the premises facilitates faster data exchange across the organization. At the same time, there has also emerged a need to conduct network security checks in order to prevent unauthorized intrusion or data leakage. Losing data through such incidents may translate in to severe losses for the concerned organization.

In order to avoid the security threats posed by unsecured networks, a lot of security measures are required to be implemented. At the same time, we need to realize that having a security system in place will solve the problem once and for all. These security threats can raise their heads even when you have taken precautions like installing network security software or if you have an IT team dedicated to this particular task of keeping a watch on all activities within the network. In order to keep your network free of security threats and to run it in a smoother way, you need to integrate your network security by implementing all the latest tools.

But you may still be confused as to which is the right time to update the network security software and what are the other solutions? It is very difficult to know the best possible solution to the problem of network security. Threats tend to modify themselves with passage of time. What you can do is to develop some policies for your business in order to check security.

The data that is to be protected may be structured or unstructured. The data may include credit card and other such documents. Most of the data leakage is internal. Therefore, it becomes important to have integrated enforcement capabilities for all kind of communication, be it internal or external. All the security policies and rules should be put in place or designed keeping in mind what the user wants, the data type or the destination. All the variables should be related and it is then to be decided what information is to be sent by whom, where and how. All of these arrangements should be updated automatically with each and every change. These policies should be made considering organization's requirements.

You should take care that all the security software that you are implementing should be easy to handle and use. The access control policies should be clearly defined and should be able to integrate with existing processes. A good network security solution should be able to report properly, should be able to monitor all the activities inside the network and should be able to prevent it against any security threats. It can be bolstered by a regularly conducted network security checks.
Tommy Jackson owns and operates http://www.wirelessnetworkproblems.com and Wireless Network Problems

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Tommy_Jackson

Wireless Network Security

noreply@blogger.com (The Master) — Mon, 14 Apr 2008 04:47:00 +0000

It seems that more and more home users are going with wireless networks rather than the tradition wired networks with wires hanging everywhere and running wild around the house and in the crawlspace. What seems like a good idea quickly turns into a nightmare if you don’t vamp up the security of your wireless network.

Speed is of the essence. Typically, one thing matters to new users of wireless, getting connected and browsing that first website. While wireless connectivity can accomplish this, it’s best to set up your wireless connection securely before venturing out into cyberspace. Below are some tips to help secure your wireless network.

Change the default admin password. Admin passwords are easily figured out by attackers when they are left as the default. Not changing your wireless admin password opens your network to attack and can lead to many problems depending on the attacker’s agenda.

Another wireless security measure you will need to take is turning on encryption. Enabling WEP encryption on your wireless network will help you protect your privacy and all your info won’t be floating around outside your home waiting to be picked up by a passerby. It’s important to remember that all your devices on the wireless network will need to have the same encryption. So find the strongest encryption possible that will work on all devices of the wireless network.

Stop the auto-connect feature. Do not allow your devices to auto-connect. Allowing auto-connect may connect to a network that you don’t particularly want. Example, you don’t want your laptop connecting to your neighbor’s network and sending info.

It’s also a good idea that you install firewalls on all devices that connect to the wireless network. Even if the wireless router is firewalled, it’s important to also install firewalls on all computers that are connected to the wifi network. It’s important that these firewalls be set up correctly and block any intrusions that may compromise your wifi network.

Position your wireless router close to the center of your home. Although the reach of wifi networks can vary greatly, it’s important to not allow the signal to float around great distances from the main access point. It virtually impossible to stop all leakage from exiting your home. But minimizing the risk to your wifi network will help to protect it.

Another good idea for wifi network security is to not allow broadcast of the SSID. Your router may have SSID broadcasting set up by default; however you should be able to change this setting in the configuration. This feature is only useful for mobile environments, and is not needed in home wifi networks.

These are just a few tips to securing your wifi network. It’s always a good idea to check for firmware updates to your router as new exploits and vulnerabilities arise. Some routers will have an auto update feature and it’s important to use it. Using auto update will help keep your wifi network secure without the need of remembering to check for updates.

About The Author
Jake Forrester writes Wifi Security articles for SX Security. Learn more about Wireless Security by visiting http://www.sxsecurity.com

Network Security

noreply@blogger.com (The Master) — Mon, 14 Apr 2008 04:47:00 +0000

Network security personnel know that most network security breaches occur from the inside! In my experience most small businesses use the P2P format because it is the easiest to implement and because they don’t know the security compromises they are working under.
A network setup in this format consists of at least one server, a domain controller, to administrator the rest of the network. This domain controller manages user and computer access, freeing the network administrator from the necessity of touching every PC in the network.

Data security

noreply@blogger.com (The Master) — Mon, 14 Apr 2008 04:45:00 +0000

Data security is the means of ensuring that data is kept safe from corruption and that access to it is suitably controlled. Thus data security helps to ensure privacy. It also helps in protecting personal data.

In the UK, the Data Protection Act is used to ensure that personal data is accessible to those whom it concerns, and provides redress to individuals if there are inaccuracies. This is particularly important to ensure individuals are treated fairly, for example for credit checking purposes. The Data Protection Act states that only individuals and companies with legitimate and lawful reasons can process personal information and cannot be shared.

The International Standard ISO/IEC 17799 covers data security under the topic of information security, and one of its cardinal principles is that all stored information, i.e. data, should be owned so that it is clear whose responsibility it is to protect and control access to that data.

Change The Default Location For Installing Apps

noreply@blogger.com (The Master) — Mon, 14 Apr 2008 04:43:00 +0000

Change The Default Location For Installing Apps
-----------------------------------------------

As the size of hard drives increase, more people are using partitions to separate and store groups of files.

XP uses the C:\Program Files directory as the default base directory into which new programs are installed. However, you can change the default installation drive and/ or directory by using a Registry hack.

Go to :-

- Start > Run

- Type “regedit” (without “” NOOBS!)

- Go to this directory…
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion

- Look for the value named ProgramFilesDir. by default,this value will be C:\Program Files. Edit the value to any valid drive or folder and XP will use that new location as the default installation directory for new programs.

Recover a Corrupted System File

noreply@blogger.com (The Master) — Mon, 14 Apr 2008 04:42:00 +0000

If an essential Windows file gets whacked by a virus or otherwise corrupted, restore it from the Windows CD. Search the CD for the filename, replacing the last character with an underscore; for example, Notepad.ex_. If it's found, open a command prompt and enter the command EXPAND, followed by the full pathname of the file and of the desired destination: EXPAND D:\SETUP\NOTEPAD.EX_ C:\Windows\NOTEPAD.EXE. If either pathname contains any spaces, surround it with double quotes.

If the file isn't found, search on the unmodified filename. It will probably be inside a CAB file, which Win XP treats as a folder. Simply right-drag and copy the file to the desired location. In other Windows platforms, search for a file matching *.cab that contains the filename. When the search is done, open a command prompt and enter EXTRACT /L followed by the desired location, the full pathname of the CAB file, and the desired filename; for example: EXTRACT /L C:\Windows D:\I386\Driver.cab Notepad.exe. Again, if the destination or CAB file pathname contains spaces, surround it with double quotes.

Downloading BitTorrent Files

noreply@blogger.com (The Master) — Mon, 14 Apr 2008 04:40:00 +0000

What is BitTorrent in Plain English?

BitTorrent is a program you download. It is similar to a peer-to-peer file sharing service. Basically it goes like this: You download the installer. You get the link to a file that ends in .torrent and enter that URL into your browser (preferably Internet Explorer). This opens the BitTorrent download window. It starts downloading the file, or episode that you wanted (eg. alias2x01.torrent). As it downloads, it uploads the parts that you have to other people so many people can get it at once. When you've finished downloading the file, you can leave the window open (don't press finish or close the window) and other people can still download from you. This is very much encouraged.

I'm new to all this. How do I download with BitTorrent???

First we need to download and install a BitTorrent client

Official client 3.3
CODE
http://www.bitconjurer.org/BitTorrent/index.html

Experimental client 3.2.1b-2
CODE
http://ei.kefro.st/projects/btclient

TheShad0w Experimental S-5.8.3
CODE
http://home.elp.rr.com/tur

Azureus 2.0.3.0
CODE
http://azureus.sourceforge.net/

burst! RC5d
CODE
http://krypt.dyndns.org:81/torrent/download.phtml
BT++ 0.5.4 alpha [code]http://btplusplus.sourceforge.net

Shareaza 1.8.9.22
CODE
http://www.shareaza.com

Nova Torrent 0.2.0
CODE
http://blackflaw.dyndns.org

SimpleBT 0.1.9
CODE
http://sourceforge.net/projects/simplebt

BitAnarch 1.0.5a
CODE
http://sourceforge.net/projects/bitanarch/

Personal Torrent Collector 0.8.2.2
CODE
http://ptc.sourceforge.net

Effusion 0.3.3 beta
CODE
http://www.azrael-uk.f2s.com/az/effusion

Snark 0.5 beta
CODE
http://www.klomp.org/snark

ByteTorrent 0.95
CODE
http://sourceforge.net/projects/bytetorrent/

ABC 2.5
CODE
http://pingpong-abc.sourceforge.net

Note:

If you?re client freezes during D/Ls, it?s a problem with you?re network card or modem, this happens when you connect to more peers than you?re card or modem can handle & windows shuts it down. There is a cure. Shad0ws Experimental client allows you to set how many incoming peers to allow.

All about BT:
CODE
http://www.dessent.net/btfaq/#now_what

How to D/L Torrent files

BitTorrent is not like other peer-to-peer applications (such as Winmx, Kazaa, Gnutella, etc.) in that it does not have its own \"universe.\" Put another way, BT lives on top of the Web, which means that all of the searching/listing of available files is done on the web. When you find a file you want to download, you click on it and the BitTorrent client program will run and ask you where to put it, and then start downloading. Or you save target as. Save the file somewhere then click on it when you?re ready to start the D/L.

It doesn't do anything it says:
Problem connecting to tracker - timeout exceeded
Problem connecting to tracker - HTTP Error 503: Connect failed
Problem connecting to tracker - [Error socket error] (10061, \" Connection refused\")
Problem connecting to tracker - (111, \'Connection refused\'

Generally just wait ... this normally means that the \'Tracker\' is maybe too busy. Leave your window open and it will try to connect every 2 minutes or so.

Note: BT dose resume downloads, just click the torrent file again when you are ready to resume the D/L and save it to same place as the original. All clients have an option for default D/L directory. I suggest setting this option.

My speed is always very slow!!!!!!!!!!

Speeds can be real slow if your one of the below, they all can bet set to allow BT in and out

#1 behind a firewall
#2 behind a router
#3 on a network
#4 Xps firewall is enabled

ports 6881 thru 6999 need to be open to get good speeds

If you need info on bit torrent and how to set it up with a firewall or router

CODE
http://knowbuddy.dyndns.org/torrent/btclientconfig.html

Get general info on how torrent works and how it uses ports

CODE
http://knowbuddy.dyndns.org/torrent/btclientconfig.html

http://www.dessent.net/btfaq/

Where do I get torrent files???

Suprnova mirrors are the best site?s, updated every 20 minutes.

CODE
http://www.suprnova.org

There are others you can use here is another one:
CODE
http://www.torrentbox.com

Places to find other torrent sites
CODE
http://torrentlinks.com/index.php?action=displaycat&catid=10
http://members.chello.nl/~p.wiersema/
http://home.quicknet.nl/qn/prive/romeria/bittorrentsites.htm

Torrent Search engine
CODE
http://novasearch.net/

Keeping up with the torrent network
CODE
http://www.digital-update.com/forums/attachment.php?s=&postid=163113
http://www.filesoup.com/phpBB2/index.php
http://www.lickmytaint.com/
http://suprnova.org/

PeerGuardian

What does PeerGuardian actually do?

PeerGuardian does two things to help P2P users. The first is the obvious one, it closes connections on certain IP addresses. The second is that it optionally logs all connections made to your computer. The reason for this is so that if you do use PeerGuardian but still get sent a legal threat, you can cross-reference the date/time of the alleged infringement with the log. This gives us a list of IPs, one of which will be the IP that's doing the busting. It's basically to help us identify which IPs are doing the busting and weren't known to PeerGuardian before. - Hope that makes sense.

Is PeerGuardian 100% Protection?

CERTAINLY NOT!!! - PeerGuardian relies on users sharing information to stay up to date. It IS contributory to protection and (I'm not trying to blow my own trumpet here!!) it seems to be the most up-to-date and open database of this nature on the internet (as far as I know). The more people who are using full-logging and report the relevant IPs when they get a C&D threat (see above paragraph), the more people we can save. ANONYMOUS P2P is the way ahead IMHO, PeerGuardian isn't 100% effective.. I've NEVER claimed that and never will and I look forward to the day that PG (not just the app, more.. the database and communication between p2p'ers on blocking IPs) becomes totally redundant. I'm just trying to help supply the next-best thing until we get to that stage.

I use PeerGuardian and have still been sent a legal threat.

What do I do?

First of all, stop sharing the file you got busted with. If you're worried, try sharing older/rarer files. If you share Bourne Identity, Terminator 3 and a load of Busta Rhymes mp3s after being busted, you'll be asking for trouble. Second thing to do, check the "full connection log" in PeerGuardian. (you did have it enabled didn't you?) - Work out the difference in timezones on the infringement warning and cross-reference it with the log. From this you should be able to identify a handful of IPs. Either post that list to the PG forums for one of our admins/moderators/members to investigate or investigate it yourself and post the p2p enemy IP to the on-line database. - There are plans to automate this whole process in the future.

CODE
http://www.peerguardian.net/

Well it isn't really much of a tutorial but I spent a lot of time on this so please help me out if it is wrong.

-=-Bullet-T00th-=-

HOW TO BOOT XP FASTER

noreply@blogger.com (The Master) — Mon, 14 Apr 2008 04:33:00 +0000

First of all, this tweak only apply to those who only have one HDD on their primary IDE channel (nothing else on device 0 or 1) and a CD-ROM and/or DVD-ROM on the secondary IDE channel. Each time you boot Windows XP, there's an updated file called NTOSBOOT-*.pf who appears in your prefetch directory (%SystemRoot%Prefetch) and there's no need to erease any other files as the new prefetch option in XP really improves loading time of installed programs. We only want WindowsXP to boot faster and not decrease its performance. Thanks to Rod Cahoon (for the prefetch automation process...with a minor change of mine) and Zeb for the IDE Channel tweak as those two tricks, coupled together with a little modification, result in an EXTREMELY fast bootup:

1. Open notepad.exe, type "del c:windowsprefetch tosboot-*.* /q" (without the quotes) & save as "ntosboot.bat" in c:
2. From the Start menu, select "Run..." & type "gpedit.msc".
3. Double click "Windows Settings" under "Computer Configuration" and double click again on "Shutdown" in the right window.
4. In the new window, click "add", "Browse", locate your "ntosboot.bat" file & click "Open".
5. Click "OK", "Apply" & "OK" once again to exit.
6. From the Start menu, select "Run..." & type "devmgmt.msc".
7. Double click on "IDE ATA/ATAPI controllers"
8. Right click on "Primary IDE Channel" and select "Properties".
9. Select the "Advanced Settings" tab then on the device 0 or 1 that doesn't have 'device type' greyed out select 'none' instead of 'autodetect' & click "OK".
10. Right click on "Secondary IDE channel", select "Properties" and repeat step 9.
11. Reboot your computer.

WindowsXP should now boot REALLY faster.

DirectX explained

noreply@blogger.com (The Master) — Mon, 14 Apr 2008 04:32:00 +0000

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.

Delete An "undeletable" File

noreply@blogger.com (The Master) — Mon, 14 Apr 2008 04:26:00 +0000

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 where 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.

Convert Stubborn Webpage To .pdf

noreply@blogger.com (The Master) — Mon, 14 Apr 2008 04:26:00 +0000

I have come across some websites that i wanted to save the page for later review. I found that i was having some problems with certain sites. I found a way around it.

what you need:adobe acrobat 6 pro or better
popupcop

there may be a simpler way to do this but i found that this works:

when at a webpage that you want to copy (YOU MUST BE USING IE AND HAVE BOTH POPUPCOP INSTALLED AND ADOBE ACROBAT 6 PRO OR HIGHER, ACROBAT ICON MUST BE IN IE TOOLBAR TO CONVERT TO .PDF),slide popupcops popup intensity bar to the far left, now click on adobe acrobat icon to convert webpage to .pdf document. I have yet to find a webpage where this trick does not work.

Caught A Virus?

noreply@blogger.com (The Master) — Mon, 14 Apr 2008 04:25:00 +0000

If you've let your guard down--or even if you haven't--it can be hard to tell if your PC is infected. Here's what to do if you suspect the worst.

Heard this one before? You must run antivirus software and keep it up to date or else your PC will get infected, you'll lose all your data, and you'll incur the wrath of every e-mail buddy you unknowingly infect because of your carelessness.

You know they're right. Yet for one reason or another, you're not running antivirus software, or you are but it's not up to date. Maybe you turned off your virus scanner because it conflicted with another program. Maybe you got tired of upgrading after you bought Norton Antivirus 2001, 2002, and 2003. Or maybe your annual subscription of virus definitions recently expired, and you've put off renewing.

It happens. It's nothing to be ashamed of. But chances are, either you're infected right now, as we speak, or you will be very soon.

For a few days in late January, the Netsky.p worm was infecting about 2,500 PCs a day. Meanwhile the MySQL bot infected approximately 100 systems a minute (albeit not necessarily desktop PCs). As David Perry, global director of education for security software provider Trend Micro, puts it, "an unprotected [Windows] computer will become owned by a bot within 14 minutes."

Today's viruses, worms, and so-called bots--which turn your PC into a zombie that does the hacker's bidding (such as mass-mailing spam)--aren't going to announce their presence. Real viruses aren't like the ones in Hollywood movies that melt down whole networks in seconds and destroy alien spacecraft. They operate in the background, quietly altering data, stealing private operations, or using your PC for their own illegal ends. This makes them hard to spot if you're not well protected.

Is Your PC "Owned?"

I should start by saying that not every system oddity is due to a virus, worm, or bot. Is your system slowing down? Is your hard drive filling up rapidly? Are programs crashing without warning? These symptoms are more likely caused by Windows, or badly written legitimate programs, rather than malware. After all, people who write malware want to hide their program's presence. People who write commercial software put icons all over your desktop. Who's going to work harder to go unnoticed?

Other indicators that may, in fact, indicate that there's nothing that you need to worry about, include:

* An automated e-mail telling you that you're sending out infected mail. E-mail viruses and worms typically come from faked addresses.
* A frantic note from a friend saying they've been infected, and therefore so have you. This is likely a hoax. It's especially suspicious if the note tells you the virus can't be detected but you can get rid of it by deleting one simple file. Don't be fooled--and don't delete that file.

I'm not saying that you should ignore such warnings. Copy the subject line or a snippet from the body of the e-mail and plug it into your favorite search engine to see if other people have received the same note. A security site may have already pegged it as a hoax.

Sniffing Out an Infection

There are signs that indicate that your PC is actually infected. A lot of network activity coming from your system (when you're not actually using Internet) can be a good indicator that something is amiss. A good software firewall, such as ZoneAlarm, will ask your permission before letting anything leave your PC, and will give you enough information to help you judge if the outgoing data is legitimate. By the way, the firewall that comes with Windows, even the improved version in XP Service Pack 2, lacks this capability.

To put a network status light in your system tray, follow these steps: In Windows XP, choose Start, Control Panel, Network Connections, right-click the network connection you want to monitor, choose Properties, check "Show icon in notification area when connected," and click OK.

If you're interested in being a PC detective, you can sniff around further for malware. By hitting Ctrl-Alt-Delete in Windows, you'll bring up the Task Manager, which will show you the various processes your system is running. Most, if not all, are legit, but if you see a file name that looks suspicious, type it into a search engine and find out what it is.

Want another place to look? In Windows XP, click Start, Run, type "services.msc" in the box, and press Enter. You'll see detailed descriptions of the services Windows is running. Something look weird? Check with your search engine.

Finally, you can do more detective work by selecting Start, Run, and typing "msconfig" in the box. With this tool you not only see the services running, but also the programs that your system is launching at startup. Again, check for anything weird.

If any of these tools won't run--or if your security software won't run--that in itself is a good sign your computer is infected. Some viruses intentionally disable such programs as a way to protect themselves.

What to Do Next

Once you're fairly sure your system is infected, don't panic. There are steps you can take to assess the damage, depending on your current level of protection.

* If you don't have any antivirus software on your system (shame on you), or if the software has stopped working, stay online and go for a free scan at one of several Web sites. There's McAfee FreeScan, Symantec Security Check, and Trend Micro's HouseCall. If one doesn't find anything, try two. In fact, running a free online virus scan is a good way to double-check the work of your own local antivirus program. When you're done, buy or download a real antivirus program.
* If you have antivirus software, but it isn't active, get offline, unplug wires-- whatever it takes to stop your computer from communicating via the Internet. Then, promptly perform a scan with the installed software.
* If nothing seems to be working, do more research on the Web. There are several online virus libraries where you can find out about known viruses. These sites often provide instructions for removing viruses--if manual removal is possible--or a free removal tool if it isn't. Check out GriSOFT's Virus Encyclopedia, Eset's Virus Descriptions, McAffee's Virus Glossary, Symantec's Virus Encyclopedia, or Trend Micro's Virus Encyclopedia.

A Microgram of Prevention

Assuming your system is now clean, you need to make sure it stays that way. Preventing a breach of your computer's security is far more effective than cleaning up the mess afterwards. Start with a good security program, such Trend Micro's PC-Cillin, which you can buy for $50.

Don't want to shell out any money? You can cobble together security through free downloads, such as AVG Anti-Virus Free Edition, ZoneAlarm (a personal firewall), and Ad-Aware SE (an antispyware tool).

Just make sure you keep all security software up to date. The bad guys constantly try out new ways to fool security programs. Any security tool without regular, easy (if not automatic) updates isn't worth your money or your time.

Speaking of updating, the same goes for Windows. Use Windows Update (it's right there on your Start Menu) to make sure you're getting all of the high priority updates. If you run Windows XP, make sure to get the Service Pack 2 update. To find out if you already have it, right-click My Computer, and select Properties. Under the General tab, under System, it should say "Service Pack 2."

Here are a few more pointers for a virus-free life:

* Be careful with e-mail. Set your e-mail software security settings to high. Don't open messages with generic-sounding subjects that don't apply specifically to you from people you don't know. Don't open an attachment unless you're expecting it.
* If you have broadband Internet access, such as DSL or cable, get a router, even if you only have one PC. A router adds an extra layer of protection because your PC is not connecting directly with the Internet.
* Check your Internet ports. These doorways between your computer and the Internet can be open, in which case your PC is very vulnerable; closed, but still somewhat vulnerable; or stealthed (or hidden), which is safest. Visit Gibson Research's Web site and run the free ShieldsUP test to see your ports' status. If some ports show up as closed--or worse yet, open--check your router's documentation to find out how to hide them.

How to change payee name in adsense?

noreply@blogger.com (The Master) — Mon, 14 Apr 2008 04:24:00 +0000

To change PAYEE NAME IN ADSENSE follow the following link:::

https://www.google.com/adsense/support/bin/request.py?search_ask=1&subtopic=&contact=5&contact_topic=Want

Cisco VTP: VLAN Trunking Protocol

noreply@blogger.com (The Master) — Mon, 14 Apr 2008 04:22:00 +0000

VLAN Trunking Protocol (VTP) is a Cisco Layer 2 messaging protocol that manages the
addition, deletion, and renaming of VLANs on a network-wide basis. Virtual Local Area
Network (VLAN) Trunk Protocol (VTP) reduces administration in a switched network.
When you configure a new VLAN on one VTP server, the VLAN is distributed through
all switches in the domain. This reduces the need to configure the same VLAN
everywhere. VTP is a Cisco-proprietary protocol that is available on most of the Cisco
Catalyst Family products.
VTP ensures that all switches in the VTP domain are aware of all VLANs. There are
occasions, however, when VTP can create unnecessary traffic. All unknown unicasts and
broadcasts in a VLAN are flooded over the entire VLAN. All switches in the network
receive all broadcasts, even in situations where few users are connected in that VLAN.
VTP pruning is a feature used to eliminate (or prune) this unnecessary traffic.
By default, all Cisco Catalyst switches are configured to be VTP servers. This is suitable
for small-scale networks where the size of the VLAN information is small and easily
stored in all switches (in NVRAM). In a large network, a judgment call must be made at
some point when the NVRAM storage needed is wasted, because it is duplicated on every
switch. At this point, the network administrator should choose a few well-equipped
switches and keep them as VTP servers. Everything else participating in VTP can be
turned into a client. The number of VTP servers should be chosen so as to provide the
degree of redundancy desired in the network.
Modes of Operation
Server
In VTP server mode, you can create, modify, and delete VLANs and specify other
configuration parameters (such as VTP version and VTP pruning) for the entire VTP
domain. VTP servers advertise their VLAN configuration to other switches in the same
VTP domain and synchronize their VLAN configuration with other switches based on
advertisements received over trunk links. VTP server is the default mode.
Transparent
VTP transparent switches do not participate in VTP. A VTP transparent switch does not
advertise its VLAN configuration and does not synchronize its VLAN configuration
based on received advertisements. However, in VTP version 2, transparent switches do
forward VTP advertisements that they receive out their trunk ports.
Client
VTP clients behave the same way as VTP servers, but you cannot create, change, or
delete VLANs on a VTP client.
Advertisements
Summary Advertisements
When the switch receives a summary advertisement packet, it compares the VTP domain
name to its own VTP domain name. If the name is different, the switch simply ignores
the packet. If the name is the same, the switch then compares the configuration revision
to its own revision. If its own configuration revision is higher or equal, the packet is
ignored. If it is lower, an advertisement request is sent.
Subset Advertisements
When you add, delete, or change a VLAN in a switch, the server switch where the
changes were made increments the configuration revision and issues a summary
advertisement, followed by one or several subset advertisements. A subset advertisement
contains a list of VLAN information. If there are several VLANS, more than one subset
advertisement may be required in order to advertise them all.
Advertisement Requests
A switch needs a VTP advertisement request in the following situations:
• The switch has been reset.
• The VTP domain name has been changed.
• The switch has received a VTP summary advertisement with a higher
configuration revision than its own.
Upon receipt of an advertisement request, a VTP device sends a summary advertisement,
followed by one or more subset advertisements.
Configuration
To configure an IOS based switch to be a VTP server, issue the following commands:
SwitchA# vlan database
SwitchA(vlan)# vtp domain vtpdom
SwitchA(vlan)# vtp server
SwitchA(vlan)# exit
These commands configure the switch to be a VTP server in the VTP domain vtpdom.
The changes are saved and the revision number is incremented when the exit command is
issued.
To configure a VTP client, run the following commands:
SwitchB# vlan database
SwitchB(vlan)# vtp domain vtpdom
SwitchB(vlan)# vtp client
SwitchB(vlan)# exit
To disable VTP, set the vtp mode to transparent as such:
SwitchC# vlan database
SwitchC(vlan)# vtp transparent
SwitchC(vlan)# exit
To monitor the VTP operation and status, use either:
SwitchA# show vtp status
SwitchA# show vtp counters

How do I overburn a CD with Nero?

noreply@blogger.com (The Master) — Mon, 14 Apr 2008 04:19:00 +0000

How do I overburn a CD with Nero?

Start Nero

From the action-bar select File and select Preferences.

In the Preferences window, select Expert Features and check the Enable overburn disc-at-once.

Choose a Maximum CD Length and click OK (*82:59:59 is the maximum value I suggest, but as you can see from the screen capture above I have set mine significantly higher. The reason is because I frequently use 99min 850 MB CD media).

For a more accurate test you can use a nero tool called nero speed test to see how much a specific CD is capable of being overburned . get it here

From the action-bar select File and select Write CD.

A window will appear when you have exceeded expected length, click OK to start the overburn copy.

Remember to set disk to burn Disc at Once, you cannot overburn in Track at Once Mode.

Choosing A Good Domain Name

noreply@blogger.com (The Master) — Mon, 14 Apr 2008 04:16:00 +0000

Choosing a domain name for your site is one of the most important steps towards creating the perfect internet presence. If you run an on-line business, picking a name that will be marketable and achieve success in search engine placement is paramount. Many factors must be considered when choosing a good domain name. This article summarizes all the different things to consider before making that final registration step!

Short and Sweet

Domain names can be really long or really short (1 - 67 characters). In general, it is far better to choose a domain name that is short in length. The shorter your domain name, the easier it will be for people remember. Remembering a domain name is very important from a marketability perspective. As visitors reach your site and enjoy using it, they will likely tell people about it. And those people may tell others, etc. As with any business, word of mouth is the most powerful marketing tool to drive traffic to your site (and it's free too!). If your site is long and difficult to pronounce, people will not remember the name of the site and unless they bookmark the link, they may never return.

Consider Alternatives

Unless a visitor reaches your site through a bookmark or a link from another site, they have typed in your domain name. Most people on the internet are terrible typists and misspell words constantly. If your domain name is easy to misspell, you should think about alternate domain names to purchase. For example, if your site will be called "MikesTools.com", you should also consider buying "MikeTools.com" and "MikeTool.com". You should also secure the different top level domain names besides the one you will use for marketing purposes ("MikesTools.net", "MikesTools.org", etc.) You should also check to see if there are existing sites based on the misspelled version of the domain name you are considering. "MikesTools.com" may be available, but "MikesTool.com" may be home to a graphic pornography site. You would hate for a visitor to walk away thinking you were hosting something they did not expect.

Also consider domain names that may not include the name of your company, but rather what your company provides. For example, if the name of your company is Mike's Tools, you may want to consider domain names that target what you sell. For example: "buyhammers.com" or "hammer-and-nail.com". Even though these example alternative domain names do not include the name of your company, it provides an avenue for visitors from your target markets. Remember that you can own multiple domain names, all of which can point to a single domain. For example, you could register "buyhammers.com", "hammer-and-nail.com", and "mikestools.com" and have "buyhammers.com" and "hammer-and-nail.com" point to "mikestools.com".

Hyphens: Your Friend and Enemy

Domain name availability has become more and more scant over the years. Many single word domain names have been scooped up which it makes it more and more difficult to find a domain name that you like and is available. When selecting a domain name, you have the option of including hyphens as part of the name. Hyphens help because it allows you to clearly separate multiple words in a domain name, making it less likely that a person will accidentally misspell the name. For example, people are more likely to misspell "domainnamecenter.com" than they are "domain-name-center.com". Having words crunched together makes it hard on the eyes, increasing the likelihood of a misspelling. On the other hand, hyphens make your domain name longer. The longer the domain name, the easier it is for people to forget it altogether. Also, if someone recommends a site to someone else, they may forget to mention that each word in the domain name is separated by a hyphen. If do you choose to leverage hyphens, limit the number of words between the hyphens to three. Another advantage to using hyphens is that search engines are able to pick up each unique word in the domain name as key words, thus helping to make your site more visible in search engine results.

Dot What?

There are many top level domain names available today including .com, .net, .org, and .biz. In most cases, the more unusual the top level domain, the more available domain names are available. However, the .com top level domain is far and away the most commonly used domain on the internet, driven by the fact that it was the first domain extension put to use commercially and has received incredible media attention. If you cannot lay your hands on a .com domain name, look for a .net domain name, which is the second most commercially popular domain name extension.

Long Arm of the Law

Be very careful not to register domain names that include trademarked names. Although internet domain name law disputes are tricky and have few cases in existence, the risk of a legal battle is not a risk worth taking. Even if you believe your domain name is untouchable by a business that has trademarked a name, do not take the chance: the cost of litigation is extremely high and unless you have deep pockets you will not likely have the resources to defend yourself in a court of law. Even stay away from domain names in which part of the name is trademarked: the risks are the same.

Search Engines and Directories

All search engines and directories are different. Each has a unique process for being part of the results or directory listing and each has a different way of sorting and listing domain names. Search engines and directories are the most important on-line marketing channel, so consider how your domain name choice affects site placement before you register the domain. Most directories simply list links to home pages in alphabetical order. If possible, choose a domain name with a letter of the alphabet near the beginning ("a" or "b"). For example, "aardvark-pest-control.com" will come way above "joes-pest-control.com". However, check the directories before you choose a domain name. You may find that the directories you would like be in are already cluttered with domain names beginning with the letter "a". Search engines scan websites and sort results based on key words. Key words are words that a person visiting a search engine actually search on. Having key words as part of your domain name can help you get better results.

Anonymity of Proxy, Anonymity Of Proxy learn it insideout

noreply@blogger.com (The Master) — Mon, 14 Apr 2008 04:14:00 +0000

The exchange of information in Internet is made by the "client - server" model. A client sends a request (what files he needs) and a server sends a reply (required files). For close cooperation (full understanding) between a client and a server the client sends additional information about itself: a version and a name of an operating system, configuration of a browser (including its name and version) etc. This information can be necessary for the server in order to know which web-page should be given (open) to the client. There are different variants of web-pages for different configurations of browsers. However, as long as web-pages do not usually depend on browsers, it makes sense to hide this information from the web-server.

What your browser transmits to a web-server:
a name and a version of an operating system
a name and a version of a browser
configuration of a browser (display resolution, color depth, java / javascript support, ...)
IP-address of a client
Other information

The most important part of such information (and absolutely needless for a web-server) is information about IP-address. Using your IP it is possible to know about you the following:
a country where you are from
a city
your provider?s name and e-mail
your physical address

Information, transmitted by a client to a server is available (accessible) for a server as environment variables. Every information unit is a value of some variable. If any information unit is not transmitted, then corresponding variable will be empty (its value will be undetermined).

These are some environment variables:

REMOTE_ADDR ? IP address of a client

HTTP_VIA ? if it is not empty, then a proxy is used. Value is an address (or several addresses) of a proxy server, this variable is added by a proxy server itself if you use one.

HTTP_X_FORWARDED_FOR ? if it is not empty, then a proxy is used. Value is a real IP address of a client (your IP), this variable is also added by a proxy server if you use one.

HTTP_ACCEPT_LANGUAGE ? what language is used in browser (what language a page should be displayed in)

HTTP_USER_AGENT ? so called "a user?s agent". For all browsers this is Mozilla. Furthermore, browser?s name and version (e.g. MSIE 5.5) and an operating system (e.g. Windows 98) is also mentioned here.

HTTP_HOST ? is a web server?s name

This is a small part of environment variables. In fact there are much more of them (DOCUMENT_ROOT, HTTP_ACCEPT_ENCODING, HTTP_CACHE_CONTROL, HTTP_CONNECTION, SERVER_ADDR, SERVER_SOFTWARE, SERVER_PROTOCOL, ...). Their quantity can depend on settings of both a server and a client.

These are examples of variable values:

REMOTE_ADDR = 194.85.1.1
HTTP_ACCEPT_LANGUAGE = ru
HTTP_USER_AGENT = Mozilla/4.0 (compatible; MSIE 5.0; Windows 98)
HTTP_HOST = www.webserver.ru
HTTP_VIA = 194.85.1.1 (Squid/2.4.STABLE7)
HTTP_X_FORWARDED_FOR = 194.115.5.5

Anonymity at work in Internet is determined by what environment variables "hide" from a web-server.

If a proxy server is not used, then environment variables look in the following way:

REMOTE_ADDR = your IP
HTTP_VIA = not determined
HTTP_X_FORWARDED_FOR = not determined

According to how environment variables "hided" by proxy servers, there are several types of proxies
Transparent Proxies

They do not hide information about your IP address:

REMOTE_ADDR = proxy IP
HTTP_VIA = proxy IP
HTTP_X_FORWARDED_FOR = your IP

The function of such proxy servers is not the improvement of your anonymity in Internet. Their purpose is information cashing, organization of joint access to Internet of several computers, etc.
Anonymous Proxies

All proxy servers, that hide a client?s IP address in any way are called anonymous proxies

Simple Anonymous Proxies

These proxy servers do not hide a fact that a proxy is used, however they replace your IP with its own:
REMOTE_ADDR = proxy IP
HTTP_VIA = proxy IP
HTTP_X_FORWARDED_FOR = proxy IP

These proxies are the most widespread among other anonymous proxy servers.

Distorting Proxies

As well as simple anonymous proxy servers these proxies do not hide the fact that a proxy server is used. However a client?s IP address (your IP address) is replaced with another (arbitrary, random) IP:

REMOTE_ADDR = proxy IP
HTTP_VIA = proxy IP
HTTP_X_FORWARDED_FOR = random IP address
High Anonymity Proxies

These proxy servers are also called "high anonymity proxy". In contrast to other types of anonymity proxy servers they hide a fact of using a proxy:

REMOTE_ADDR = proxy IP
HTTP_VIA = not determined
HTTP_X_FORWARDED_FOR = not determined

That means that values of variables are the same as if proxy is not used, with the exception of one very important thing ? proxy IP is used instead of your IP address.
Summary

Depending on purposes there are transparent and anonymity proxies. However, remember, using proxy servers you hide only your IP from a web-server, but other information (about browser configuration) is accessible!

Anonymity complete GUIDE

noreply@blogger.com (The Master) — Mon, 14 Apr 2008 04:13:00 +0000

Anonymity complete GUIDE By Theraider & Dangerous R.

Anonymity on the web

[ t a b l e o f c o n t e n t s ]
01 - table of contents
02 - introduction
03 - first tips
04 - about proxies
05 - cookies
06 - ftp transfers
07 - secure transactions
08 - SSL tunelling
09 - anonymity on irc
10 - mail crypto (and pgp usage)
11 - icq privacy
12 - spyware
13 - cleaning tracks
14 - ending words

[ introduction ]
Nowadays, everyone wants privacy on the web, because no matter where you go, someone could be watching you. Someone like your employer, someone trying to hack your system, companies gathering all your info to sell to yet other companies, or even the government, may be on your track while you peacefully surf the web. Thus, anonymity on the web means being able tu use all of its services with no concern about someone snooping on your data.
Your computer being connected to the net has an IP [Internet Protocol] address. If you have a dial-up connection, then your IP changes every time you connect to the internet (this is not always true, though. There are dialup isps, specially for university students, that do have static ips). Cable modems and DSL connections have a static IP, which means that the IP address does not change. One of the goals of getting anonymous is to make sure your ip, either static or dynamic) isn't revealed to other users of the internet, or to server administrators of the servers you roam around when using internet services.
This text tries to give you some hints on how to maintain your anonimity on the web. Some of the hints may sound banal, but think of, if you really abide them in every situation.

[ first tips ]
When chatting on IRC, ICQ, AIM (etc..), do not give out personal information about yourself, where you live, work, etc.
Do not use your primary email address (the one your ISP gave you) anywhere except to family members, close friends or trusted people. Instead create for yourself a web-based email account such as yahoo, hotmail, dynamitemail, mail.com, etc. and use this e-mail address to signing up for services, when in the need to give your mail to download something, or to publish on your homepage.
When signing up for services on the web, don't give your real information like address, phone number and such unless you really need to do so. This is the kind of information that information gathering companies like to get, so that they can sell out and fill your mailbox with spam.
Use an anonymous proxy to surf the web. This makes sure your ip doesn't get stored on the webserver logs. (Webservers log every GET request made, together with date, hour, and IP. This is where the proxy comes in. They get the ip from the proxy, not yours)
Use a bouncer to connect to IRC networks, in case you don't trust the administrators, or the other users. A bouncer is a program that sits on a permanently connected machine that allows you to connect there, and from there to the irc server, just like a proxy works for webservers.
Use anonymous remailers to send out your e-mails.
Cryptography can also help you by making sure the material you send out the web, like by email, etc, is cyphered, not allowing anyone that doesn't have your key to read it (in key-based cryptography). Programs like PGP (pretty good privacy) are toolkits with all you need to cypher and uncypher your stuff.
Delete traces of your work with the computer including history files, cache or backup files.
[ about proxies ]
Proxies are caches that relay data. When you configure your web browser to use a proxy, it never connects to the URL. Instead it always connects to the proxy server, and asks it to get the URL for you. It works similarly with other type of services such as IRC, ICQ etc. There'll won't be direct connection between you and the server, so your real IP address won't be revealed to the server. When you view a website on the server, the server won't see your IP. Some of web proxies do not support forwarding of the cookies whose support is required by some of the websites (for ex. Hotmail).
Here are some anonymous proxies that you can use to surf anonymously (notice that some of these may be a payed service):
Aixs - http://aixs.net/
Rewebber - http://www.anon.de/
Anonymizer - http://www.anonymizer.com/
The Cloak - http://www.the-cloak.com/
You'll highly probably find many websites that provide the lists of unauthorised proxies and remailers . Such lists are being compiled usually with the help of port scanners or exploit scanners, scanning for computers with wingate or other proxies' backdoors. Using these proxies is illegal, and is being considered as unauthorized access of computer. If you get such list to your hands, check if the info is legal or compiled by script kiddie, and act acordingly.
If you anyhow decide not to use proxy, at least do not forget to remove your personal information from your browser. After you remove details like your name and e-mail address from your browser, the only info a Web site can sniff out is your ISP's address and geographical location. Also Java and JavaScript applets can take control of your browser unexpectedly, and if you are surfing to unknown and potentially dangerous places you should be aware of that. There are exploitable browser bugs (mainly Internet explorer ones) reported ever week.

[ cookies ]
Maybe you're not aware of the fact that if you have the "allow cookies" feature in your browser on, websites can store all sorts of information on your harddrive. Cookies are small files that contain various kind of information that can be read bt websites when you visit them. The usual usage is to track demographics for advertising agencies that want to see just what kinds of consumers a certain site is attracting. Web sites also use cookies to keep your account information up-to-date. Then for instance when you visit your e-mail webbased account without being unlogged some hours later, you find yourself being logged on, even if you turn off your computer. Your login and password was simply stored on your harddrive in cookie file. This is security threat, in case that there is more persons who have the access to your computer.
Most of the browsers offer the possiblity to turn off the cookies, but some of sites like Hotmail.com require them to be turned on. In case you decided to allow cookies, at least never forget to log off from the websites when you're finishing visiting them.

[ ftp transfers ]
When using an FTP client program to download files, assure yourself, that it's giving a bogus password, like guest@unknown.com, not your real one. If your browser lets you, turn off the feature that sends your e-mail address as a password for anonymous FTP sessions.

[ secure transaction ]
Everything being sent from the web server to your browser is usually in plain text format. That means, all transferred information can be easily sniffed on the route. Some of the web servers support SSL (which stands for Secure Socket Layer). To view and use these websites you'll need SSL support in your browser as well. You recognize, that the connection is encrypted, if URL starts with https:// instead of usual http://. Never use web server without SSL for sending or receiving sensitive private or business information (credit card numbers, passwords etc.)

[ SSL tunelling ]
What is SSL?
SSL stands for Secure Socket Layer. The ?Secure? implies an encryption, while Socket Layer denotes an addition to the Window Socket system, Winsock. For those that don?t know, a Socket is an attachment to a port on a system. You can have many sockets on one port, providing they are non-blocking (allowing control to pass through to another socket aware application which wishes to connect to that port).
A Secure Socket Layer means that any sockets under it, are both secure and safe. The idea behind SSL was to provide an encrypted, and thus, secure route for traffic along a socket based system, such as TCP/IP (the internet protocol). Doing this allows security in credit card transactions on the Internet, encrypted and protected communiqué along a data line, and overall peace of mind.
The SSL uses an encryption standard developed by RSA. RSA are a world respected American organisation that specializes in encryption and data security. Initially, they developed a cipher length of only 40 bits, for use with the Secure Socket Layer, this was considered weak and therefore a longer much more complicated encryption cipher was created, 128 bits. The reasoning behind it was simple: it needs to be secure.
The RSA site puts the advantage of a longer encryption length pretty clearly: because 40-bit encryption is considered to be relatively weak. 128-bits is about 309 septillion times ( 309,485,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 ) larger than 40-bits. This would mean it would take that many times longer to crack or break 128-bit encryption than it would 40-bit.
If you want more information on the technicalities or RSA?s SSL encryption engine, visit their site: http://www.rsasecurity.com/standards/ssl.
But what does all this encryption and security have to do with you?
Well, that?s a simple question. No matter how hard you try, at times your privacy will need to be knowingly invaded so you can make use of the product offered for doing so. If you think about food, for example, one cannot eat without swallowing. When we wish to make a transaction or view a site on the internet, where we have to give enough information away so that it happens, we also want to be assured no one else along the line gathers that data. An encrypted session would mean our data is not at the hands of any privacy perpetrators unless they knew how to decode it ? and the only ones in the know, are those you specifically wish. SSL uses public key encryption as explained in the PGP section.
To put this at a head: if you use an encrypted connection or session, you can be relatively assured that there are no prying eyes along the way.
And how do I implement SSL with SSL Tunnelling?
We know that a Secure Socket Layer is safe, but what we don?t know is what a Tunnel is. In the most simplistic form, a tunnel is a proxy. Like proxy voting in general elections, a tunnel will relay your data back and forth for you. You may be aware though, that there are already ?proxies? out there, and yes, that is true. Tunnelling is done via proxies, but it is not considered to be the same as a standard proxy relaying simply because it isn?t.
Tunnelling is very special kind of proxy relay, in that it can, and does relay data without interfering. It does this transparently and without grievance or any care for what is passing its way.
Now, if we add this ability to ?tunnel? data, any data, in a pipe, to the Secure Sockets Layer, we have a closed connection that is independent of the software carrying it; and something that is also encrypted. For those of you wanting to know a little more about the technicalities, the SSL layer is also classless in the sense it does not interferer with the data passed back and forth ? after all, it is encrypted and impossible to tamper with. That attribute means an SSL capable proxy is able to transfer data out of its ?proxied? connection to the destination required.
So to sum up, we have both a secure connection that does the job and relays things in the right direction; and we have direct tunnel that doesn?t care what we pass through it. Two very useful, and almost blind entities. All we need now is a secure proxy that we can use as the tunnel.
Proxies:
Secure proxies are alike standard proxies. We can either use an HTTP base SSL equipped proxy - one specifically designed for security HTTP traffic, but because of the ignorant nature of SSL communication, it can be bent to any needs ? or we can use a proper SSL service designed for our connection ? like you would use a secure NNTP (news) program with a secure proxy on port 563 instead of taking our long way - which would probably work as well.
A secure HTTP proxy operates on port 443. Host proxies are not public, that means they operate for, and allow only traffic from their subnet or the ISP that operates them ? but, there are many badly configured HTTP proxies and some public ones out there. The use of a program called HTTrack (available on Neworder) will aid you in scanning and searching for proxies on your network or anywhere on the Internet if your ISP does not provide you with one.
Neworder also features a number of sites dedicated to listing public proxies in the Anonymity section. While it?s often hard to find a suitable fast proxy, it?s worth the effort when you get one.
So how can I secure my connections with SSL Tunnelling?
That?s a big question, and beyond the scope out this tuition as it must come to and end. I can however, point you in the right direction of two resources that will aid you in tunnelling both IRC, and most other connections via a HTTP proxy.
For Windows, the first stop would be http://www.totalrc.net?s Socks2HTTP. This is an SSL tunnelling program that turns a normal socks proxy connection into a tunnelled SSL connection.
The second stop, for both Windows and Unix is stunnel. Stunnel is a GNU kit developed for SSL tunnelling any connection. It is available for compile and download as binary here: Stunnel homepage - http://mike.daewoo.com.pl/computer/stunnel

[ anonymity on irc ]
A BNC, or a Bouncer - is used in conjunction with IRC as a way of hiding your host when people /whois you. On most IRC networks, your host isnt masked when you whois, meaning the entire IP appears, like 194.2.0.21, which can be resolved. On other networks, your host might be masked, like IRCnetwork-0.1 but it can still give valuable information, like nationality if your host is not a IP, but a DNS resolved host, like my.host.cn would be masked to IRCnetwork-host.cn but this would still tell the person who whoised you, that you are from China.
To keep information such as this hidden from the other users on an IRC network, many people use a Bouncer, which is actually just a Proxy. Let us first draw a schematic of how a normal connection would look, with and without a BNC installed.
Without a BNC:
your.host.cn <<-->> irc.box.sk
With a BNC:
your.host.cn <<-->> my.shell.com <<-->> irc.box.sk
You will notice the difference between the two. When you have a BNC installed, a shell functions as a link between you and the IRC server (irc.box.sk as an example). You install a BNC on a shell, and set a port for it to listen for connections on. You then login to the shell with your IRC client, BitchX/Xchat/mIRC, and then it will login to the IRC server you specify - irc.box.sk in this case. In affect, this changes your host, in that it is my.shell.com that makes all the requests to irc.box.sk, and irc.box.sk doesn't know of your.host.cn, it has never even made contact with it.
In that way, depending on what host your shell has, you can login to IRC with a host like i.rule.com, these vhosts are then actually just an alias for your own machine, your.host.cn, and it is all completely transparent to the IRC server.
Many servers have sock bots that check for socket connections. These aren't BNC connections, and BNC cannot be tested using a simple bot, unless your shell has a socket port open (normally 1080) it will let you in with no problem at all, the shell is not acting as a proxy like you would expect, but more as a simple IRC proxy, or an IRC router. In one way, the BNC just changes the packet and sends it on, like:
to: my.shell.com -> to: irc.box.sk -> to: my.shell.com from: your.host.cn <- from: my.shell.com <- from: irc.box.sk
The BNC simply swaps the host of your packet, saying it comes from my.shell.com. But also be aware, that your own machine is perfectly aware that it has a connection established with my.shell.com, and that YOU know that you are connected to irc.box.sk. Some BNCs are used in IRC networks, to simulate one host. If you had a global IRC network, all linked together, you could have a local server called: cn.myircnetwork.com which Chinese users would log into. It would then Bounce them to the actual network server, in effect making all users from china have the same host - cn.myircnetwork.com, masking their hosts. Of course, you could change the host too - so it didn't reveal the nationality, but it is a nice gesture of some networks, that they mask all hosts from everyone, but it makes life hard for IRCops on the network - but its a small price to pay for privacy.
Note: Even if you do use IRC bouncer, within DCC transfers or chat, your IP will be revealed, because DCC requires direct IP to IP connection. Usual mistake of IRC user is to have DCC auto-reply turned on. For an attacker is then easy to DCC chat you or offer you a file, and when IRC clients are connected, he can find out your IP address in the list of his TCP/IP connections (netstat).
How do I get IRC bouncer?
you download and install bouncer software, or get someone to install it for you (probably the most known and best bouncer available is BNC, homepage : http://gotbnc.com/)
you configure and start the software - in case it's bouncer at Unix machine, you start it on your shell account (let's say shell.somewhere.com)
you open IRC and connect to the bouncer at shell.somewhere.com on the port you told it to start on.
all depending on the setup, you may have to tell it your password and tell it where to connect, and you're now on irc as shell.somewhere.com instead of your regular hostname
[ mail crypto ]
Usually the safest way to ensure that your e-mail won't be read by unauthorised persons is to encrypt them. To be compatible with the rest of the world I'd suggest to use free PGP software.
PGP (Pretty Good Privacy) is a piece of software, used to ensure that a message/file has not been changed, has not been read, and comes from the person you think it comes from. Download location: http://www.pgpi.org/
How does pgp Work?
The whole idea behind PGP is that of Public and Private keys. To explain the algorithm PGP uses in order to encrypt the message would take too much time, and is beyond the scope of this, we will however look at how it ensures the integrity of the document. A user has a password, this password has to be chosen correctly, so don't choose passwords like "pop" or "iloveyou", this will make an attack more likely to succeed. The password is used to create a private key, and a public key - the algorithm ensures that you can not use the public key to make the private key. The public key is sent to a server, or to the people you send e-mails/files, and you keep the private key secret.
We will use a few terms and people in this introduction, they are: Pk - Public Key, Sk - Secret Key (private key). Adam will send an e-mail to Eve, and Rita will be a person in between, who we are trying to hide the content of the mail from. Rita will intercept the email (PGP doesn't ensure that Rita cant get her hands on the package, she can - its not a secure line like other technologies) and try to read it/modify it. Adam has a Sk1 and a Pk1, and Eve has a Sk2 and a Pk2. Both Adam, Eve, and Rita have Pk1 and Pk2, but Sk1 and Sk2 are presumed to be totally secret. First, here is a schematic of how it all looks:
PUBLIC SERVER
Pk1, Pk2

Adam <------------------------------------------> Eve Sk1 ^ Sk2
|
|
|
|
Rita
So Adam wants to send a packet to Eve, without Rite reading it, or editing it. There are three things that we need to make sure:
That Rita cant read the text without permission
That Rita cant edit it in any way, without Eve and Adam knowing
That Even knows that Adam sent it
First thing is making sure Rita cant read the text. Adam does this by encrypting the message with Eves Pk2 which he has found on the server. You can only Encrypt with the Pk, not decrypt, so Rita wont be able to read the data unless Eve has revealed her Sk2.
The second thing to make sure, is that Rite cant edit the message. Adam creates a hash from the message he has created. The hash can be encrypted using Pk2, or sent as it is. When Eve gets the message, she decrypts it, and creates a hash herself, then checks if the hashes are the same - if they are, the message is the same, if its different, something has changed in the message. The Hash is very secure, and it is in theory impossible to make a change, and get the hash to remain the same.
The third, and probably one of the most important things to ensure, is that Rita hasn't grabbed the mail, made a new one, and sent it in Adams name. We can ensure this by using Public key and Private key too. The Sk can be used both to encrypt and to decrypt, but Pk can only encrypt. When Adam normally sends a message M to Eve, he creates the encrypted message C by doing: C=Pk2(M). This means, Adam uses Pk2 (Eves Pk) on message M to create message C. Image this: Adam can encrypt the message with his Sk1, because it is impossible to derive Sk1 from the message, this is secure and without any danger, as long as no one knows the password used to make Sk1 with. If the message M is encrypted with Sk1, he gets a message called X, Eve can decrypt the message using Pk1 which is public. If the message decrypts to something that makes sence, then it must be from Adam, because Sk1 is considered as secret, and only Adam knows it.
The entire process looks like this, when sending message C: Adam signs his digital signature on C, and hashes C: X=Sk1(C). Then Adam encrypts the message for Eve: M=Pk2(X). The message is sent, and looks all in all like this: M=Pk2(Sk1(C)). Rita can intercept M, but not decrypt, edit, or resend it. Eve receives M, and decrypts it: X=Sk2(M). Then she checks the digital signature: C=Pk1(X) and checks the Hash on the way.
This way, the PGP Public/Private key system ensures integrity and security of the document e-mail, but PGP is not the only algorithm that uses the Public/Private key theory, Blowfish, and RSA are among the many other technologies that use it, PGP is just the most popular for e-mail encryption, but many don't trust it because of rumors of backdoors by the NSA (I don't know if its true though). PGP comes in a commercial, and a freeware version for Windows, and is available for Linux as well. What ever encryption you use, it will be better than none.

[ anonymous remailers ]
Remailers are programs accessible on the Internet that route email and USENET postings anonymously (i.e., the recipient cannot determine who sent the email or posted the article). This way the sender can't be traced back by routing headers included in the e-mail. There are different classes of remailers, which allow anonymous exchange of email and anonymous posting to USENET and often many other useful features.
Resources:
Chain is a menu-driven remailer-chaining script:
http://www.obscura.com/crypto.html
Raph Levien's remailer availability page offers comprehensive information about the subject
http://www.sendfakemail.com/~raph/remailer-list.html
The Cypherpunks Remailers are being developed to provide a secure means of providing anonymity on the nets. Here you can find out about the available remailers, those which have been standard in existance for a long time as well as the new experimental remailers and anonymous servers.
http://www.csua.berkeley.edu/cypherpunks/remailer/

[ icq privacy ]
How can I keep my privacy at ICQ?
Send and receive messages via ICQ server, not directly. Every direct connection enables attacker to learn your IP. Encrypt your messages by dedicated software, encryption addons.
How to encrypt ICQ messages?
There are addons which enhance your ICQ with possibility to encrypt outcoming messages. The user on the other side needs to have the addon as well in order to decrypt your message.
Resources:
http://www.encrsoft.com/products/tsm.html
Top Secret Messenger (TSM) - trial version has only weak 8-bit encryption
http://www.planet-express.com/sven/technical/dev/chatbuddy/default.html
Chat Buddy - a freeware Windows application for encrypting chat sessions
http://www.algonet.se/~henisak/icq/encrypt-v5.txt
how encryption works in ICQ protocol v5

[ spyware ]
As we all work hard to become more savvy about protecting our personal information and keeping as anonymous as possible on the web, advertising companies are working just as hard to come up with new ways of getting our personal information. One of the ways they accomplish this is through spyware.
Spyware are applications that are bundled along with many programs that you download for free. Their function is to gather personal information about you and relay it back to advertising firms. The information is then used either to offer you products or sold to other advertisers, so they can promote THEIR products. They claim this is all they do with this information, but the problem is nobody really knows for sure.
Spyware fits the classic definition of a trojan, as it is something that you did not bargain for+when you agreed to download the product. Not only is spyware an invasion of your privacy, but (especially if you have a few different kinds on your machine) it can also chew up bandwidth, making your internet connection slower.
Sometimes, these spies really are harmless, merely connecting back to the home server to deliver+you more advertising. Some, like Gator for instance, send out detailed information about your surfing habits, operating system, income, age demographic et cetera.
Avoiding spyware
Avoiding spyware is getting harder and harder, as more software distributors are choosing it as a method of profiting from freeware and shareware distributions. Be leery of programs with cute+little icons like Gator. Also, watch those Napster wannabes like AudioGalaxy, Limewire, and Kazaa. I've yet to find one that didn't include spyware. Before you download, check to see if the program is known to contain spyware.
For a list of most known spyware, the best I've found is here:
http://www.infoforce.qc.ca/spyware/enknownlistfrm.html
Getting rid of spyware
In most cases, you can remove the spyware from your system and still use the application you downloaded. In the case of Gator and Comet Cursor, the the whole program is spyware an it must be completely removed to stop the spying.
There are several ways to get rid of spyware on your system. You can use a firewall to monitor outgoing connections. The programmers that put these things together, however, are getting sneakier and sneakier about getting them to circumvent firewalls. Comet Cursor, for instance uses an HTTP post command to connect without the intervention of a firewall. You can also install a registry monitor such as Regmon to monitor your registry for unwanted registry registry changes, but this is not foolproof either.
Probably the best method of removal is to download a spyware removal program and run it like it was a virus scanner. The best examples of these programs are:
Lavasoft's Adaware. Available at http://www.lavasoftusa.com/ Or professional cybernut Steve Gibson's OptOut. Available at: http://grc.com/optout.htm Both of these programs are free and are updated regularly.
Here are some links, if you wish to learn more about spyware:
http://www.spychecker.com/
http://grc.com/optout.htm
http://www.thebee.com/bweb/iinfo200.htm

[ cleaning tracks ]
Resources:
Burnt Cookies - allows automatic detection and optional deletion of Cookies deposited by Banner Ad web-sites
http://www.andersson-design.com/bcookies/index.shtml
Surfsecret - automatically kills files like your Internet cache files, cookies, history, temporary files, recent documents, and the contents of the Recycle Bin.
http://www.surfsecret.com/
Note: One sidenote on cleaning tracks. When you delete some files on your machine, these aren't actually deleted. Only the reference to their location in the hard drive is deleted, which makes the OS think that that location on the HD is free and ready to take things. Thus, there are ways to recover data even after you delete them.
There are however, several ways to _wipe_ this information. Programs that fill hard disk locations with zeros, then with 1s, on several passes are your best bet to make sure no document goes to the wrong hands. One of such programs is PGP. PHPi now comes with a utility that does this work, and you can even select the number of passes to wipe files. For *nix, there is also the "wipe" program. Use these when you feel you have data that needs secure cleaning.

Beep Codes Error Codes

noreply@blogger.com (The Master) — Mon, 14 Apr 2008 04:11:00 +0000

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

Standard Original IBM POST Error Codes
Code Description

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

AMI BIOS Beep Codes
Code Description

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

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

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

How to save Windows xp updates

noreply@blogger.com (The Master) — Mon, 14 Apr 2008 04:10:00 +0000

Go to the Windows Update web site.
In the left pane, under Other Options, select “Personalize Windows Update”.
Under “Set Options for Windows Update”, select the checkbox for “Display the Link to Windows Update Catalog under ‘See Also’”, then click “Save Settings”.
Go back to the Windows Update web site.
In the left pane, under “See Also”, select “Windows Update Catalog”.
Select “Find Updates for Microsoft Operating Systems”.
Select the operating system and language of your choice.
Select “Critical Updates and Service Packs”.
Select all of the patches you’d like to download, then click on “Go to download basket” to download them.

Anonymity

noreply@blogger.com (The Master) — Mon, 14 Apr 2008 04:10:00 +0000

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.

All MIRC Commands

noreply@blogger.com (The Master) — Mon, 14 Apr 2008 04:09:00 +0000

/ Recalls the previous command entered in the current window.
/! Recalls the last command typed in any window.
/action {action text} Sends the specifed action to the active channel or query window.
/add [-apuce] {filename.ini} Loads aliases, popups, users, commands, and events.
/ame {action text} Sends the specifed action to all channels which you are currently on.
/amsg {text} Sends the specifed message to all channels which you are currently on.
/auser {level} {nick|address} Adds a user with the specified access level to the remote users
list.
/auto [on|off|nickname|address] Toggles auto-opping of a nick or address or sets it on or off
totally.
/away {away message} Sets you away leave a message explaining that you are not currently paying
attention to IRC.
/away Sets you being back.
/ban [#channel] {nickname} [type] Bans the specified nick from the curent or given channel.
/beep {number} {delay} Locally beeps 'number' times with 'delay' in between the beeps. /channel
Pops up the channel central window (only works in a channel).
/clear Clears the entire scrollback buffer of the current window.
/ctcp {nickname} {ping|finger|version|time|userinfo|clientinfo} Does the given ctcp request on
nickname.
/closemsg {nickname} Closes the query window you have open to the specified nick.
/creq [ask | auto | ignore] Sets your DCC 'On Chat request' settings in DCC/Options.
/dcc send {nickname} {file1} {file2} {file3} ... {fileN} Sends the specified files to nick.
/dcc chat {nickname} Opens a dcc window and sends a dcc chat request to nickname.
/describe {#channel} {action text} Sends the specifed action to the specified channel window.
/dde [-r] {service} {topic} {item} [data] Allows DDE control between mIRC and other
applications.
/ddeserver [on [service name] | off] To turn on the DDE server mode, eventually with a given
service name.
/disable {#groupname} De-activates a group of commands or events.
/disconnect Forces a hard and immediate disconnect from your IRC server. Use it with care.
/dlevel {level} Changes the default user level in the remote section.
/dns {nickname | IP address | IP name} Uses your providers DNS to resolve an IP address.
/echo [nickname|#channel|status] {text} Displays the given text only to YOU on the given place
in color N.
/enable {#groupname} Activates a group of commands or events.
/events [on|off] Shows the remote events status or sets it to listening or not.
/exit Forces mIRC to closedown and exit.
/finger Does a finger on a users address.
/flood [{numberoflines} {seconds} {pausetime}] Sets a crude flood control method.
/fsend [on|off] Shows fsends status and allows you to turn dcc fast send on or off.
/fserve {nickname} {maxgets} {homedirectory} [welcome text file] Opens a fileserver.
/guser {level} {nick} [type] Adds the user to the user list with the specified level and
address type.
/help {keyword} Brings up the Basic IRC Commands section in the mIRC help file.
/ignore [on|off|nickname|address] Toggles ignoring of a nick or address or sets it on or off
totally.
/invite {nickname} {#channel} Invites another user to a channel.
/join {#channel} Makes you join the specified channel.
/kick {#channel} {nickname} Kicks nickname off a given channel.
/list [#string] [-min #] [-max #] Lists all currently available channels, evt. filtering for
parameters.
/log [on|off] Shows the logging status or sets it on or off for the current window.
/me {action text} Sends the specifed action to the active channel or query window.
/mode {#channel|nickname} [[+|-]modechars [parameters]] Sets channel or user modes.
/msg {nickname} {message} Send a private message to this user without opening a query window.
/names {#channel} Shows the nicks of all people on the given channel.
/nick {new nickname} Changes your nickname to whatever you like.
/notice {nick} {message} Send the specified notice message to the nick.
/notify [on|off|nickname] Toggles notifying you of a nick on IRC or sets it on or off totally.
/onotice [#channel] {message} Send the specified notice message to all channel ops.
/omsg [#channel] {message} Send the specified message to all ops on a channel.
/part {#channel} Makes you leave the specified channel.
/partall Makes you leave all channels you are on.
/ping {server address} Pings the given server. NOT a nickname.
/play [-c] {filename} [delay] Allows you to send text files to a window.
/pop {delay} [#channel] {nickname} Performs a randomly delayed +o on a not already opped nick.
/protect [on|off|nickname|address] Toggles protection of a nick or address or sets it on or off
totally.
/query {nickname} {message} Open a query window to this user and send them the private message.
/quit [reason] Disconnect you from IRC with the optional byebye message.
/raw {raw command} Sends any raw command you supply directly to the server. Use it with care!!
/remote [on|off] Shows the remote commands status or sets it to listening or not.
/rlevel {access level} Removes all users from the remote users list with the specified access
level.
/run {c:\path\program.exe} [parameters] Runs the specified program, evt. with parameters.
/ruser {nick[!]|address} [type] Removes the user from the remote users list.
/save {filename.ini} Saves remote sections into a specified INI file.
/say {text} Says whatever you want to the active window.
/server [server address [port] [password]] Reconnects to the previous server or a newly
specified one.
/sound [nickname|#channel] {filename.wav} {action text} Sends an action and a fitting sound.
/speak {text} Uses the external text to speech program Monologue to speak up the text.
/sreq [ask | auto | ignore] Sets your DCC 'On Send request' settings in DCC/Options.
/time Tells you the time on the server you use.
/timer[N] {repetitions} {interval in seconds} {command} [| {more commands}] Activates a timer.
/topic {#channel} {newtopic} Changes the topic for the specified channel.
/ulist [{|}]{level} Lists all users in the remote list with the specified access levels.
/url [-d] Opens the URL windows that allows you to surf the www parallel to IRC.
/uwho [nick] Pops up the user central with information about the specified user.
/who {#channel} Shows the nicks of all people on the given channel.
/who {*address.string*} Shows all people on IRC with a matching address.
/whois {nickname} Shows information about someone in the status window.
/whowas {nickname} Shows information about someone who -just- left IRC.
/wavplay {c:\path\sound.wav} Locally plays the specified wave file.
/write [-cidl] {filename} [text] To write the specified text to a .txt file.

MoViEBoT #xdcc-help /server irc.atomic-irc.net

We strive to make IRC easier for you!

All About Spyware

noreply@blogger.com (The Master) — Mon, 14 Apr 2008 04:06:00 +0000

There are a lot of PC users that know little about "Spyware", "Mal-ware", "hijackers", "Dialers" & many more. This will help you avoid pop-ups, spammers and all those baddies.

What is spy-ware?
Spy-ware is Internet jargon for Advertising Supported software (Ad-ware). It is a way for shareware authors to make money from a product, other than by selling it to the users. There are several large media companies that offer them to place banner ads in their products in exchange for a portion of the revenue from banner sales. This way, you don't have to pay for the software and the developers are still getting paid. If you find the banners annoying, there is usually an option to remove them, by paying the regular licensing fee.

Known spywares
There are thousands out there, new ones are added to the list everyday. But here are a few:
Alexa, Aureate/Radiate, BargainBuddy, ClickTillUWin, Conducent Timesink, Cydoor, Comet Cursor, eZula/KaZaa Toptext, Flashpoint/Flashtrack, Flyswat, Gator, GoHip, Hotbar, ISTbar, Lions Pride Enterprises/Blazing Logic/Trek Blue, Lop (C2Media), Mattel Brodcast, Morpheus, NewDotNet, Realplayer, Songspy, Xupiter, Web3000, WebHancer, Windows Messenger Service.

How to check if a program has spyware?
The is this Little site that keeps a database of programs that are known to install spyware.

Check Here: http://www.spywareguide.com/product_search.php

If you would like to block pop-ups (IE Pop-ups).
There tons of different types out there, but these are the 2 best, i think.

Try: Google Toolbar (http://toolbar.google.com/) This program is Free
Try: AdMuncher (http://www.admuncher.com) This program is Shareware

If you want to remove the "spyware" try these.
Try: Lavasoft Ad-Aware (http://www.lavasoftusa.com/) This program is Free
Info: Ad-aware is a multi spyware removal utility, that scans your memory, registry and hard drives for known spyware components and lets you remove them. The included backup-manager lets you reinstall a backup, offers and multi language support.

Try: Spybot-S&D (http://www.safer-networking.org/) This program is Free
Info: Detects and removes spyware of different kinds (dialers, loggers, trojans, user tracks) from your computer. Blocks ActiveX downloads, tracking cookies and other threats. Over 10,000 detection files and entries. Provides detailed information about found problems.

Try: BPS Spyware and Adware Remover (http://www.bulletproofsoft.com/spyware-remover.html) This program is Shareware
Info: Adware, spyware, trackware and big brotherware removal utility with multi-language support. It scans your memory, registry and drives for known spyware and lets you remove them. Displays a list and lets you select the items you'd like to remove.

Try: Spy Sweeper v2.2 (http://www.webroot.com/wb/products/spysweeper/index.php) This program is Shareware
Info: Detects and removes spyware of different kinds (dialers, loggers, trojans, user tracks) from your computer.
The best scanner out there, and updated all the time.

Try: HijackThis 1.97.7 (http://www.spywareinfo.com/~merijn/downloads.html) This program is Freeware
Info: HijackThis is a tool, that lists all installed browser add-on, buttons, startup items and allows you to inspect them, and optionally remove selected items.

If you would like to prevent "spyware" being install.
Try: SpywareBlaster 2.6.1 (http://www.wilderssecurity.net/spywareblaster.html) This program is Free
Info: SpywareBlaster doesn`t scan and clean for so-called spyware, but prevents it from being installed in the first place. It achieves this by disabling the CLSIDs of popular spyware ActiveX controls, and also prevents the installation of any of them via a webpage.

Try: SpywareGuard 2.2 (http://www.wilderssecurity.net/spywareguard.html) This program is Free
Info: SpywareGuard provides a real-time protection solution against so-called spyware. It works similar to an anti-virus program, by scanning EXE and CAB files on access and alerting you if known spyware is detected.

Try: XP-AntiSpy (http://www.xp-antispy.org/) This program is Free
Info: XP-AntiSpy is a small utility to quickly disable some built-in update and authentication features in WindowsXP that may rise security or privacy concerns in some people.

Try: SpySites (http://camtech2000.net/Pages/SpySites_Prog...ml#SpySitesFree) This program is Free
Info: SpySites allows you to manage the Internet Explorer Restricted Zone settings and easily add entries from a database of 1500+ sites that are known to use advertising tracking methods or attempt to install third party software.

If you would like more Information about "spyware".
Check these sites.
http://www.spychecker.com/
http://www.spywareguide.com/
http://www.cexx.org/adware.htm
http://www.theinfomaniac.net/infomaniac/co...rsSpyware.shtml
http://www.thiefware.com/links/
http://simplythebest.net/info/spyware.html

Usefull tools...
Try: Stop Windows Messenger Spam 1.10 (http://www.jester2k.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/j...r2ksoftware.htm) This program is Free
Info: "Stop Windows Messenger Spam" stops this Service from running and halts the spammers ability to send you these messages.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------
All these softwares will help remove and prevent evil spammers and spywares attacking your PC. I myself recommend getting "spyblaster" "s&d spybot" "spy sweeper" & "admuncher" to protect your PC. A weekly scan is also recommended

Free Virus Scan
Scan for spyware, malware and keyloggers in addition to viruses, worms and trojans. New threats and annoyances are created faster than any individual can keep up with.
http://defender.veloz.com// - 15k

Finding . is a Click Away at 2020Search.com
Having trouble finding what you re looking for on: .? 2020Search will instantly provide you with the result you re looking for by drawing on some of the best search engines the Internet has to offer. Your result is a click away!
http://www.2020search.com// - 43k

Download the BrowserVillage Toolbar.
Customize your Browser! Eliminate Pop-up ads before they start, Quick and easy access to the Web, and much more. Click Here to Install Now!
http://www.browservillage.com/ - 36k