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WHAT TO DO IF YOU LOSE YOUR MOBILE PHONE

2010-04-09T01:51:00.000-07:00

Hi,

Try this

If u lose your mobile in India, you can get it back
Got an interesting fact to share... Nowadays each one of us carries Hi-Fi Mobile devices and always fears that it may be stolen.
Each mobile carries a unique IMEI i.e. International Mobile Identity Number which can be used to track your mobile anywhere in the world.
This is how it works!!!!!!

1. Dial *#06# from your mobile.
2. Your mobile shows a unique 15 digit.
3. Note down this no anywhere but except your mobile as this is the no which will help trace your mobile in case of a theft.
4. Once stolen you just have to mail this 15 digit IMEI no. tocop@vsnl.net
5. No need to go to police.
6. Your Mobile will be traced within next 24 hrs via a complex system of GPRS and internet.
7. You will find where your hand set is being operated even in case your no is being changed.
PASS ON THIS VERY IMP MESSAGE TO ALL YOUR FRIENDS AND RELATIVES.

send an e-mail to cop@vsnl.net with the following info..
Your name:
Address:
Phone model:
Make:
Last used No.:
E-mail for communication:
Missed date:
IMEI No.:

QUICK TIPS FOR UR PC .

2010-03-11T04:16:00.000-08:00

CHANGE SETTINGS TO OPEN A LINK IN A SEPARATE WINDOW
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
IN INTERNET EXPLORER ,GO TO EXTRAS |INTERNET OPTIONS AND SELECT THE ADVANCED TAB HERE. UN CHECK THE OPTION "OPEN LINKS IN THE SAME WINDOW"

MINIMIZE THE RIBBON BAR
----------------------------------
TO MINIMIZE THE RIBBON BTOAR IN OFFICE 2007.EITHER PRESS [CTRL]+[F1] OR DOUBLE CLICK ON THE CURRENTLY ACTIVE MENU TAB.

DISPLAY FORMATTING MARKS
---------------------------------------
QUICKLY SWITCH ON/OFF THE FORMATTING MARKS BY PRESSING [CTRL]+[SHIFT]+[+],TO HELP YOU BETTER RECOGNIZE THE CHANGES IN A PARAGRAPH

SUPPRESS NULL/ZERO VALUES
-------------------------------------
IN EXCEL 2003 GO TO TOOLS |OPTIONS,AND SELECT THE VIEW TAB. HERE ,IN THE WINDOWS OPTIONS .SELECTION UN CHECK NULL VALUE

QUICK TIPS FOR UR PC

2010-03-11T03:29:00.000-08:00

OPERATING CALCULATOR

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

PRESS[P]ON THE KEY BOARD GIVES YOU THE VALUE OF PL.YOU CAN CALCULATE THE SQUARE ROOT OF A NUMBER WITH[@]AND THE SQUARE OF THE ENTERED NUMBER WITH[*]+[ENTER]

STARTING THE EXPLORER WITH A TARGET

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

SUPPLEMENT THE 'EXPLORER.EXE' CALLED BY THE '/E,D:\DATA' START PARAMETER SO THAT EXPLORER DISPLAYS THIS DIRECTORY ONLY

WINDOWS 7 SYSTEM REPAIRS

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

OPEN 'SYSTEM AND SECURITY' AND 'CREATE BACKUP OF THE COMPUTER' IN THE CONTROL PANEL FOR 'CREATING THE SYSTEM REPAIR DRIVE'.

GETTING THE SIDE BAR TO THE FRONT

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

A SIDE BAR CONFIGURED FOR THE BACKGROUND AND ONE WHICH IS HIDDEN CAN BE BROUGHT BACK TO THE FOREGROUND IN VISTA EASILY WITH [WINDOWS ]+[SPACE].

OPENING THE SCREEN MAGNIFIER QUICKLY

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

USE THE 'MAGNIFY'COMMAND IN THE SEARCH FIELD OF THE START MENU OR IN THE 'RUN'LINE FOR CALLING THE SCREEN MAGNIFIER DIRECTLY

Virus Science

2010-02-01T05:57:00.000-08:00

Adware
Adware is software that presents banner ads or in pop-up windows through a bar that appears on a computer screen. Those advertising spots usually can't be removed and are consequently always visible. The connection data allow many conclusions on the usage behavior and are problematic in terms of data security.

Backdoors
A backdoor can gain access to a computer by going around the computer access security mechanisms.

A program that is being executed in the background generally enables the attacker almost unlimited rights. User's personal data can be spied with the backdoor's help, but are mainly used to install further computer viruses or worms on the relevant system.

Boot viruses
The boot or master boot sector of hard drives is mainly infected by boot sector viruses. They overwrite important information necessary for the system execution. One of the awkward consequences: the computer system cannot be loaded any more…

Bot-Net
A Bot-Net is collection of softwarre bots, which run autonomously. A Bot-Net can comprise a collection of cracked machines running programs (usually referred to as worms, Trojans) under a common command and control infrastructure. Boot-Nets server various purposes, including Denial-of-service attacks, etc., partly without the affected PC user's knowledge. The main potential of Bot-Nets is that the networks can achieve dimensions on thousands of computers and its bandwidth sum bursts most conventional Internet accesses.

Dialer
A dialer is a computer programm that establishes a connection to the Internet or to another computer network through the telephone line or the digital ISDN network. Fraudsters use dialers to charge users high rates when dialing up to the Internet without their knowledge.

EICAR test file
The EICAR test file is a test pattern that was developed at the European Institute for Computer Antivirus Research for the purpose to test the functions of anti-virus programs. It is a text file which is 68 characters long and its file extension is “.COM” all virus scanners should recognize as virus.

Exploit
An exploit (security gap) is a computer program or script that takes advantage of a bug, glitch or vulnerability leading to privilege escalation or denial of service on a computer system. A form of an exploit for example are attacks from the Internet with the help of manipulated data packages. Programs can be infiltrated in order to obtain higher access.

Grayware
Grayware operates in a way similar to malware, but it is not spread to harm the users directly. It does not affect the system functionality as such. Mostly, information on the patterns of use is collected in order to either sell these data or to place advertisements systematically.

Hoaxes
The users have obtained virus alerts from the Internet for a few years and alerts against viruses in other networks that are supposed to spread via email. These alerts are spread per email with the request that they should be sent to the highest possible number of colleagues and to other users, in order to warn everyone against the "danger".

Honeypot
A honeypot is a service (program or server), which is installed in a network.

It has the function to monitor a network and to protocol attacks. This service is unknown to the legitime user - because of this reason he is never addressed. If an attacker examines a network for the weak points and uses the services which are offered by a Honeypot, it is protocolled and an alert sets off.

Keystroke logging
Keystroke logging is a diagnostic tool used in software development that captures the user's keystrokes. It can be useful to determine sources of error in computer systems and is sometimes used to measure employee productivity on certain clerical tasks. Like this, confidential and personal data, such as passwords or PINs, can be spied and sent to other computers via the Internet.

Macro viruses
Macro viruses are small programs that are written in the macro language of an application (e.g. WordBasic under WinWord 6.0) and that can normally only spread within documents of this application. Because of this, they are also called document viruses. In order to be active, they need that the corresponding applications are activated and that one of the infected macros has been executed. Unlike "normal" viruses, macro viruses do consequently not attack executable files but they do attack the documents of the corresponding host-application.

Polymorph viruses
Polymorph viruses are the real masters of disguise. They change their own programming codes - and are therefore very hard to detect.

Program viruses
A computer virus is a program that is capable to attach itself to other programs after being executed and cause an infection. Viruses multiply themselves unlike logic bombs and Trojans. In contrast to a worm, a virus always requires a program as host, where the virus deposits his virulent code. The program execution of the host itself is not changed as a rule.

Script viruses and worms
Such viruses are extremely easy to program and they can spread - if the required technology is on hand - within a few hours via email round the globe.

Script viruses and worms use a script language such as Javascript, VBScript etc. to infiltrate in other new scripts or to spread by activation of operating system functions. This frequently happens via email or through the exchange of files (documents).

A worm is a program that multiplies itself but that does not infect the host. Worms can consequently not form part of other program sequences. Worms are often the only possibility to infiltrate any kind of damaging programs on systems with restrictive security measures.

Spyware
Spyware are so called spy programs that intercept or take partial control of a computer's operation without the user's informed consent. Spyware is designed to expolit infected computers for commerical gain. Typical tactics furthering this goal include delivery of unsolicited pop-up advertisements. AntiVir is able to detect this kind of software with the category "ADSPY" or "adware-spyware".

Trojan horses (short Trojans)
Trojans are pretty common nowadays. We are talking about programs that pretend to have a particular function, but that show their real image after execution and carry out a different function that, in most cases, is destructive. Trojan horses cannot multiply themselves, which differenciates them from viruses and worms. Most of them have an interesting name (SEX.EXE or STARTME.EXE) with the intention to induce the user to start the Trojan. Immediately after execution they become active and can, for example, format the hard drive. A dropper is a special form of Trojan that 'drops' viruses, i.e. embeds viruses on the computer system.

Zombie
A Zombie-PC is a computer that is infected with malware programs and that enables hackers to abuse computers via remote control for criminal purposes. The affected PC, for example, can start Denial-of-Service- (DoS) attacks at command or send spam and phishing emails.

Global Positioning System

2010-01-25T03:11:00.001-08:00

GPS stands for Global Positioning System. GPS uses satellite technology to enable a terrestrial terminal to determine its position on the Earth in latitude and longitude.
Navigation Using GPS
GPS receivers ascertain their position and height by measuring the signals from three or more satellites simultaneously and determining their position using the timing of these signals.
GPS operates using trilateration. Trilateration is the process of determining the position of an unknown point by measuring the lengths of the sides of an imaginary triangle between the unknown point and two or more known points.
In the GPS system, the two known points are provided by two GPS satellites. These satellites constantly transmit an identifying signal.
The GPS receiver measures the distance to each GPS satellite by measuring the time each signal took to travel between the GPS satellite and the GPS receiver.
The formula for this is:
Distance = Velocity * Time
Velocity of the GPS signal is the speed of light, approximately 300,000 Km/s.
GPS transmissions occur on two frequencies: 1575.42 and 1227.60 Mhz. Both of these frequencies are within the L Band.
GPS History
GPS was originally developed for the U.S. military, but is now provided as a public service for people all over the world by the U.S. government.
Deployment of the GPS system began on 22 February 1978 with the launch of the first Block I Navstar GPS satellite. Initial Operating Capability was declared in December 1993 with 24 operational GPS satellites in orbit. Full Operational Capability was declared in June of 1995.
GPS was developed by the U.S. military to help soldiers locate their positions. Civilian access to the GPS system was guaranteed by President Reagan as a response to the Soviet Union's shooting down of Korean Airline Flight KAL-007. President Reagan hoped that GPS technology would help to prevent such a tragedy from happening again.
GPS Architecture
The GPS system is divided into three segments:
The Space Segment
The Control Segment
The User Segment
The Space Segment
GPS uses more than two dozen operational satellites, with an additional three satellites in orbit as redundant backup.
GPS uses NAVSTAR satellites manufactured by Rockwell International. Each NAVSTAR satellite is approximately 5 meters wide (with solar panels extended) and weighs approximately 900Kg.
GPS satellites orbit the earth at an altitude of approximately 20,200Km.
Each GPS satellite has an orbital period of 11 hours and 58 minutes. This means that each GPS satellite orbits the Earth twice each day. Highly accurate atomic clocks are installed on these satellites, operating at a fundamental frequency of 10.23MHz each. With the help of these clocks, signals are generated from the satellite, to be broadcast to the Earth.
These twenty-four satellites orbit in six orbital planes, or paths. This means that four GPS satellites operate in each orbital plane.
Each of these six orbital planes is spaced sixty degrees apart. All of these orbital planes are inclined fifty-five degrees from the Equator.
The Control Segment
The Control Segment is comprised of a master control station, 5 monitor stations and 4 ground antennas. All of these are strategically located along the Equator.
The Master Control Station (MCS) of the GPS system is operated at Schriever Air Force Base in Colorado Springs, Colorado. The United States Air Force maintains redundant Master Control Stations in Rockville, Maryland and Sunnyvale, California.
The Air Force also maintains monitoring stations in Colorado Springs, Hawaii, The Ascension Islands, Diego Garcia, and Kwajalein.
Key Functions of the Control Segment
The Control Segment keeps track of the orbiting position of the GPS satellites, calibrating and synchronizing their clocks.
It also predicts the path of each satellite for the following 24 hours, and uploads this information to each satellite.
Communications with the space segment are conducted through ground antennas in the Ascension Islands, Diego Garcia, and Kwajalein. The satellite signals are read here and the measurements sent to the Master Control Station in Colorado. The signals are processed there to determine any errors, and sent back to the four monitor stations with ground antennas, after which the information is uploaded back to the satellites.
The User Segment
The GPS user segment is constituted by a GPS receiver, with the help of which the user can determine his/her location.

G P S

2010-01-25T03:08:00.000-08:00

How Does It Work?

Three distinct parts make up the Global Positioning System. The first segment of the system consists of 24 satellites, orbiting 20,000 km above the Earth in 12-hour circular orbits. This means that it takes each satellite 12 hours to make a complete circle around the Earth. In order to make sure that they can be detected from anywhere on the Earth's surface, the satellites are divided into six groups of four. Each group is assigned a different path to follow. This creates six orbital planes which completely surround the Earth.

These satellites send radio signals to Earth that contain information about the satellite. Using GPS ground-based receivers, these signals can be detected and used to determine the receivers' positions (latitude, longitude, height.) The radio signals are sent at two different L-band frequencies. L-band refers to a range of frequencies between 390 and 1550 MHz. Within each signal, a coded sequence is sent. By comparing the received sequence with the original sequence, scientists can determine how long it takes for the signal to reach the Earth from the satellite. The signal delay is useful in learning about the Ionosphere and the Troposphere, two atmospheric layers that surround Earth's surface. A third signal is also sent to the receivers from the satellite. This signal contains data about the health and position of the satellite.

The second part of the GPS system is the ground station, comprised of a receiver and antenna, as well as communication tools to transmit data to the data center. The omni-directional antenna at each site, acting much like a car radio antenna, picks up the satellite signals and transmits them to the site receiver as electric currents. The receiver then separates the signals into different channels designated for a particular satellite and frequency at a particular time. Once the signals have been isolated, the receiver can decode them and split them into individual frequencies. With this information the receiver produces a general position (latitude, longitude, and height) for the antenna. Later, the data collected by the receiver can be processed again by scientists to determine different things, including another set of position coordinates for the same antenna, this time with millimeter accuracy.

The third part of the system is the data center. The role of the data center is two fold. It both monitors and controls the global GPS stations, and it uses automated computer systems to retrieve and analyze data from the receivers at those stations. Once processed, the data , along with the original raw data, is made available to scientists around the world for use in a variety of applications. Since global GPS sites are constructed and monitored by different institutions all over the world,

Data Encryption What It Is & How It Works

2010-01-24T02:39:00.001-08:00

Data Encryption
What It Is & How It Works

Security concerns are on the rise in both personal and business environments as occurrences of compromised files and e-mail messages wreak havoc. What can be done? Instead of foregoing the use of e-mail, given what a useful tool it is for communication, why not encrypt your data? Once the sole arena of governments and the military, encryption has seen rapid growth in public use. In addition to creating more robust security, companies have created products to make it easier to manage and use encryption tools, based on digital certificates, encryption keys, and digital signatures.

Encryption is broken down into two pieces called keys. A private key, unique to an individual, must be kept secure, while a public key is to be exported either to a public server or directly to users. Exporting these keys gives other users the ability to communicate securely with the sender

ITS FOR LAP TOP USERS---------------

2010-01-14T08:45:00.000-08:00

LAPTOP USERS PLE NOTE:

LAPCOOLING : NEVER USE UR LAPTOP DIRECTLY ON A SURFACE THAT PREVENTS PROPER AIR FLOW,SUCH AS ON A BLANKET OR A PILLOW

Google Chrome Features that we miss in other Web Browsers.........

2010-01-11T02:56:00.000-08:00

Now that you have Google Chrome installed on your desktop, let’s look at some of the unique features that are only available in Google Web Browser are you’re seriously going to miss them in other popular browsers like Internet Explorer, Firefox, Apple Safari or Opera.

1. Task Manager for Websites
While you are inside Google Chrome, press Shift+Escape and it will open up a ‘task manager’ with a list of all websites currently open inside Chrome.

This will give you an idea about how much physical memory is consumed by different websites and if any particular page is causing your system to crawl, you can do an "end process" to close that tab directly from Task Manager.

2. Visual Browser History
This is a feature Chrome borrowed from Google Desktop / Google Web History. Type Ctrl+H to open your browser history and search for a term.

In addition to matching pages, Google Chrome will also show you a small thumbnail image of that web pages in the history results. No need for any extensions.

3. Super Clean Contextual Menus
I simply love this. You right click an hyperlink on a web page and you get only five relevant options to deal with that link.

The number comes down to four when you right click any image in Chrome. There’s way too much clutter in Firefox menus.

4. Search Your Favorite Websites from the Address Bar
This is brilliant. If you visit a website that includes site search (for instance: search.labnol.org) – Chrome will automatically recognize and add that search engine for you so the next time you can perform a search on that site via the Chrome address bar itself.

To see this in action, open cnn.com or search.labnol.org in your Chrome browser and then type cnn.com followed by the tab key to search CNN. Simple.

5. See Memory Used by Different Browsers
Open a new tab inside Chrome browser and type "about:memory" (without quotes) – somewhere at the top, you’ll see a list of browser processes that are currently running on your system and the amount of memory they are using.

6. Reopen Website tabs that you closed by mistake
Firefox 3 has this "Undo Closed Tab" option in the menu while you can open closed tabs in Opera via the Ctrl+Z shortcut.

To re-open a closed tab in Google Chrome, just hit Ctrl+T and you’ll see an option that says "Recently closed tabs" – click the one you closed by accident.

7. Launch Websites from the Start Menu / Quick Launch Bar
Desktop shortcuts for web pages are possible with other browsers as well but Google Chrome make the whole flow very easy. Open any site and choose "Create application shortcut" from the File menu.

This will essentially create a desktop shortcut that looks something like this:

C:\Users\labnol\AppData\Local\Google\Chrome\Application\chrome.exe
--app=http://www.labnol.org/
Clicking the shortcut will launch that web page in a new instance of Chrome that may not contain have any more new tabs.

Related Tutorial: How to Create User Profiles in Google Chrome

Chrome lets you move tabs around different windows but I didn’t find this feature very useful. I like the Firefox approach better where you can drag tabs onto the desktop and turn them into web shortcuts.

Overall, I am pretty impressed with Chrome but did miss support for extensions especially Customize Google. But Chrome may be a good thing if you are web publisher as it has no adblock plus – good for Google as well.

how to download the youtube videos??

2010-01-11T02:34:00.000-08:00

YouTube has been one of the most popular website to view all kind of videos posted by people around the world. Just enter the YouTube website and you can search virtually any kind of videos on the subject you like.

With embedded HTML code and video streaming technology, you are able to watch videos directly from your browser. You are also able to post text comment or a video response to the videos, view other related videos and upload your own video as well. With lots of features given, unfortunately there is one feature that YouTube does not provide and that is to let you download the video.

But here is a trick to let you download and save the video for offline viewing.

1. Go to any YouTube video you are watching. Right click on page and select the "View Source" option from the menu. Or "View Page Source" for FireFox browser.

2. Press "CTRL + F" to search for a word "player2.swf". And notice there is a HTML line like this:

/player2.swf?hl=en&vide"o_id=tRTk0RPXtW4&l=63&t=OEgsToPDskIQlbZwT1Qgaln7RKqMqrKe"

3. Replace the "/player2.swf" to "http://www.youtube.com/get_video" and it will become:

"http://www.youtube.com/get_video?video_id=tRTk0RPXtW4&l=63&t=OEgsToPDskIQlbZwT1Qgaln7RKqMqrKe"

4. Paste it to the "Address Bar" at top of your browser and press "Enter". Then it will prompt you to save the video. REMEMBER to name your video with the ".flv" extension at the end of the filename. A correct example would be something like "myvideo.flv".

Keep in mind that the video you have saved just now is in Flash Video Format. It is the standard file format YouTube use to play video on their website. So, your Windows Media Player might not able to play the video. But no worry, what you need to do is just go to google.com and search for "flv player" and there are couples of Free player available. Just download and install it on your computer you will be able to watch the video you saved just now.

OK, now grab the popcorn and enjoy the movie!

Find out how you can retrieve a download link of YouTube video automatically athttp://www.kissyoutube.com

what is 3g???????

2010-01-05T01:22:00.001-08:00

3G is the next generation of mobile communications systems. It enhances the services such as multimedia, high speed mobile broadband, internet access with the ability to view video footage on your mobile handset. With a 3G phone and access to the 3G network you can make video calls, watch live TV, access the high speed internet, receive emails and download music tracks, as well as the usual voice call and messaging services found on a mobile phone, like person to person video, live streaming, downloadable video of entertainment, news, current affairs and sport content and video messaging

HOW TO EDIT REGISTRY...

2010-01-02T02:25:00.000-08:00

Items listed are registry edits, implemented by using registry editor. Launch registry editor by typing [regedit.exe] in the [Run] dialog accessible via [Start]. Editing the registry is not a difficult process but it does require care.

Application Registry Edits

Change IE Title Bar Text - This tweak allows you to customize Internet Explorer by adding your own window title.

Customize Windows Media Player Title Bar - Allows you to change the title bar to read Windows Media Player provided by , so if I had entered text of [The Elder Geek], it would read: Windows Media Player provided by The Elder Geek

Invoke a Program Once then Delete from the Registry - This tweak allows you to set up a program that will be run once and then deleted so that it does not run again unless the entry is re-entered manually. The Runonce key does remain in the registry for reuse.

Launch Programs at Login Without Using the Startup Folder - This tweak allows a program to be launched when the user logs onto the computer. It can be set to run minimized and there is no trace of the executable in the Startup folder on the Start Menu nor in the Documents and Settings folder accessible via Windows Explorer.

Enable/Disable Media Player Automatic Update Message - This tweak disables the prompt to update Media Player that appears on a regular basis.

Minimize Outlook 2002 to the System Tray - If you frequently access Outlook during the day it’s more convenient to have it minimized to the system tray rather than invoking it each time you need to send/receive e-mail. To minimize Outlook 2002 to the system tray:

Prevent Messenger from Running In Outlook Express - This tweak is but one of the many ways to stop Windows Messenger from running.

Run Internet Explorer Full Screen - This tweak forces Internet Explorer to open in full screen mode. That said, I've left this tweak here because a number of people have asked for it so they could remember how to uninstall it. While it does work initially, if you change the view while browsing, the second part of the tweak resets to "No" so that opening IE subsequently will launch it in normal view. Rather than using this tweak, I suggest using the F11 key which accomplishes the identical results.

Password Is Not Saved in Outlook or Outlook Express - Problem: You are repeatedly prompted to enter your password in Outlook Express or Outlook in spite of how many times you have checked the [Save Password] box.

Specify Default IE Download Directory - This tweak changes the default directory where downloads initiated in Internet Explorer are stored on the system.

Use Internet Explorer Classic Search - Clicking the Search button in Internet Explorer 6.0 launches the default Search Assistant. Many users find the Search Assistant in IE annoying. To do away with the Assistant and return to the Classic Search:

Desktop Registry Edits

Change Start Button Text - If you’re tired of looking at the word “start” on that green button at the lower left of your desktop it can be changed. Not easily, but it can be done.

Eliminate Fade Effect in XP Menus - This tweak removes the fade in effect on XP menus that many users find annoying as well as slowing response time.

Desktop Context Menu - By default, when a user right clicks on the desktop in Windows XP a context menu is displayed. Implementing the Enable/Disable Desktop Context Menu edit will remove the ability to display a context menu by right clicking the desktop, items on the desktop, and items in Windows Explorer. It does not disable context menus in Internet Explorer. This registry edit can be set either on a user or machine basis.

Desktop Patterns from Previous Windows Versions - If you've been around previous Windows versions you more than likely remember some of the hideous desktop patterns that were available. They're still here in XP waiting to be resurrected. Hey, they can't be any worse than the default XP scheme, can they? On second thought, maybe they can.

Disable Save Desktop Configuration on Exit - Default behavior for XP is to save the desktop configuration on exiting the operating system. To prevent saving the desktop configuration, implement this registry edit.

Exclude a Program from the Start Menu - A feature of the new XP Start Menu is a list of the most frequently used programs on the left side of the menu. Personally, I find this section rather useless, since a program I'd want to be instantly available I'd place either in Quick Launch or pin it to the list of programs above this frequently used programs section. However, if you find the feature useful but would like to exclude a specific program from appearing here permanently, use this tweak.

Faster Start Menu - I see no reason for there to be any delay when I click on the Start Menu. Effects are pretty, but I wouldn’t click on it if I didn’t have business inside, so lets get it open and get moving. The default speed can be adjusted with a quick registry entry.

Force Use of Classic Start Menu - This tweak loads the Classic Start Menu and makes it impossible to change back to the Windows XP version.

Hide/Show Internet Explorer Desktop Icon - By default, Windows XP does not show the Internet Explorer icon on the Windows desktop. Using the registry edit below allows you to control whether or not the Internet Explorer icon is displayed.

Hide/Show My Documents Folder on Desktop - By default, Windows XP does not show the My Documents folder on the Windows desktop. Using the registry edit below allows you to control whether or not My Documents is displayed.

Increase Menu Display Speed - I see no reason for there to be any delay when I click on the Start Menu. Effects are pretty, but I wouldn’t click on it if I didn’t have business inside, so lets get it open and get moving. The default speed can be adjusted with a quick registry entry.

Enable/Disable Notification Area Balloon Tips - This tweak disables the annoying balloon tips that appear adjacent to the Notification area. The [Notification Area] is on the right side of the Taskbar, adjacent to the Clock display.

Enable/Disable the Passport Balloon - This tweak disables the balloon reminder that appears frequently prompting users to obtain a Microsoft Passport.

Remove Common Groups from Start Menu - This tweak will remove all the entries located in C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Start Menu and its sub-folders from the Start Menu when All Programs is accessed. The entries in C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Start Menu are referred to as the Common Groups.

Rename My Computer on Desktop - This tweak allows you to have a personalized name instead of the generic My Computer. Useless, but neat.

Rename Desktop System Icons - Windows XP gives you the ability to run a desktop devoid of system icons if that's your choice. If you prefer to have the icons present but get tired of the generic names XP assigns, use the following method to easily change to something more personal or interesting.

Sort Favorites Menu Alphabetically

Sort Start Menu Alphabetically - For those that are annoyed by new entries in the Start Menu being appended to the bottom of the list instead of being automatically integrated alphabetically, this tweak will force XP to perform the sort function automatically.

Sort Start Menu Alphabetically - A different method to accomplish the same result.

Enable/Disable Snap To Default Button - This forces the cursor to always jump to the default button of any dialog or alert that opens.

Specify Default Search Options - This tweak will modify the standard search parameters so they do not have to be reset for each individual search.

Enable/Disable Tool Tip Displays - This tweak removes tool tips from appearing when the mouse moves across items that support the display of tool tips.

Enable/Disable Window Animations

Enable/Disable Desktop Cleanup Wizard

Modify Desktop Cleanup Wizard Run Frequency - If you use the Desktop Cleanup Wizard but find the 60 day default cleanup frequency unacceptable, this tweak allows the frequency to be increased or decreased.

File System Registry Edits

Connected Web Files and Folders - Connecting web files and folders allows a primary .htm or .html file to be moved in conjunction with files associated with the primary document. Once the primary document has been defined, create a sub-folder using the same name as the primary document but assign it a .files extension. Whenever the primary file is moved, the sub-folder will also move and remain as a sub-folder of the primary.

Delete Shared Documents Folder - An addition to XP is the Shared Documents folder. Folders or files you wish to share with others on the network can be placed here using drag and drop. Moving or copying a file or folder to Shared Documents makes it available to everyone who uses your computer.

Disable 8.3 Name Creation in NTFS - Files that use the 8.3 naming convention can degrade NTFS drive performance. Unless you have a good reason for keeping the 8.3 naming convention intact such as using 16 bit programs, a performance gain can be achieved by disabling the function.

Enable/Disable Recycle Bin - For those confidant enough that you will never need a deleted file or folder, this tweak will disable the Recycle Bin and permanently delete items with no chance of recovery.

Faster Browsing in Windows Explorer on Network Computers - By default, a Windows XP machine connecting to a Windows 95/98/Me computer will search for scheduled tasks or enabled printers on the remote computer. Two sub-keys control this behavior. Deleting them will speed up browsing on the remote computer.

Enable/Disable Low Disk Space Message - By default, on a Windows XP system the following messages are displayed. This tweak will prevent the messages being displayed.

Set Default Search Options - This tweak will modify the standard search parameters so they do not have to be reset for each individual search.

Suppress NTFS Volume Last Access Timestamp - By default, the LastAccess timestamp is updated whenever a directory is accessed on a NTFS volume. This tweak eliminates the updating of the timestamps.

Enable/Disable the Thumbnail Cache - Windows normally stores images that appear in Thumbnails view in cache memory so that it can redisplay the images quickly each time you reopen a folder in Thumbnails view. Disabling the cache can free up memory, but it might cause delays when you open folders.

Delete "Files Stored On This Computer" Category - When My Computer is opened from the desktop the default view opened is known as Category View. Not many XP users find this view to be of much use, but especially useless is the Files Stored On This Computer part of Category view. This tweak eliminates it from the default Category view.

Hardware Registry Edits

CD AutoRun - Depending on the type of CD's one uses, AutoRun may be more of an annoyance than a help. This allows it to be universally disabled rather than on an individual file type basis.

Enable/Disable CD Burning - If you choose to use a different CD burning program than the one supplied with Windows XP this edit will disable the default burner.

Enable/Disable DVD Player - This tweak allows you to disable an installed DVD player in Windows XP.

Restore Missing CD or DVD Drive - Reports have filtered in that CD or DVD drives will suddenly cease to exist in XP systems. Most often this has been reported in conjunction with program installations and Windows upgrades, but it has also happened for no apparent reason. This tweak will restore the missing drives after a reboot.

Internet Registry Edits

Connected Web Files and Folders - Connecting web files and folders allows a primary .htm or .html file to be moved in conjunction with files associated with the primary document. Once the primary document has been defined, create a sub-folder using the same name as the primary document but assign it a .files extension. Whenever the primary file is moved, the sub-folder will also move and remain as a sub-folder of the primary.

Increase Internet Download Connections - Increase Simultaneous Internet Download Connections. Increases the number of allowed simultaneous connections to ten (10).

Enable/Disable My Pictures Toolbar in IE -This tweak disables the floating toolbar that appears in Internet Explorer allowing an image to be Saved, E-mailed, or Printed.

Manage Internet Explorer Error Reporting - This tweak removes the IE Error Reporting tool from appearing with the option to send browser debugging reports to Microsoft.

Remove Links Folder in Favorites - The Links folder is part of Favorites whether it's being accessed through Internet Explorer or the Favorites menu in the Start Menu. This tweak will remove it from those locations.

Force New Internet Explorer Window for Launching Shortcuts - By default, when you click a web link in an internet aware program, and there is already an Internet Explorer window open, the web page appears in the open browser window instead of opening a new window. This tweak prevents the new link from being displayed in the existing IE window by forcing an additional IE browser instance to open.

Logon Registry Edits

Create Legal Notice Logon Dialog Box - In situations where you need users to review a legal notice before logging on, this tweak will create the caption for the notice and the notice itself which you type directly into the string values.

Customize Logon and Security Dialog Title

Customize Logon Box Message - This is the message displayed on the Classic Logon box, not the XP ‘Welcome’ logon screen.

Enable/Disable Logon Screen Saver - Note: This applies only to the default Login [login.scr] screensaver and is not the same as screensaver selections made in the [Display Properties] property sheet accessed by right clicking on the desktop and selecting [Properties] from the context menu.

Add Administrator Account to Log In Screen - When Windows XP is first installed it requires you to enter at least one name of a user who will access the computer. Once you create this name the default Administrator account vanishes. To access it, press Ctrl-Alt-Delete twice at the Welcome screen to retrieve the standard Windows 2000 logon dialog. Log on as Administrator from this point. To log the Administrator off, click [Start] [Log Off] and [Log Off] when the [Log Off Windows] selection box appears. The Log On screen with the available users will be displayed.

Welcome Screen Logon versus Classic Logon - This tweak specifies whether the Welcome screen or the Classic logon will be used to access Windows XP.

Network Registry Edits

QoS Bandwidth Reserve Setting - By default, Windows XP reserves 20% of the connection bandwidth for QoS traffic. This tweak allows the setting to be altered to a different percentage of connection bandwidth. If the system uses more than a single adapter for network connections, each adapter may be set individually by navigating to:

Enable/Disable Save Password in DUN - This tweak saves user passwords for Dial Up Networking so they do not have to be re-entered each session.

Registration Information Registry Edits

Change the Registered Organization/Owner of Windows XP - This tweak allows modification of the registered owner and organization of the Windows XP software. Note: This tweak has nothing to do with Windows Product Activation (WPA) and will not allow you to register illegal XP software.

Start Menu and Taskbar Registry Edits

Remove Links Folder in Favorites - The Links folder is part of Favorites whether it's being accessed through Internet Explorer or the Favorites menu in the Start Menu. This tweak will remove it from those locations.

System Registry Edits

Activate Clear Type - Microsoft states, “With Windows XP, ClearType delivers improved font display resolution over traditional anti-aliasing. It improves readability on color LCD monitors with a digital interface, such as those in laptops and high-quality flat desktop displays. Readability on CRT screens can also be somewhat improved.”

Enable/Disable Active Window Tracking to Mouse Movements - When the mouse is moved over an open window it automatically sets the focus to that particular window. It does not bring the window to the foreground of the open windows.

Alter When Pending Password Expiration Warning Appears - Passwords can be set so they expire and force users to create a new password in the interest of security. This setting dictates how many days before the password expires a warning will be given to the user.

Auto Disconnect for Internet Explorer - Use this edit to automatically disconnect from Internet Explorer after a specified length of time has elapsed.

Auto Reboot On System Crash - By default, when the Windows XP operating system crashes an automatic reboot of the system occurs. While this behavior can be convenient, the downside is the error message accompanying the crash is not visible. Often times this information can be a great help in troubleshooting the source of the crash. This behavior can be modified in two ways; via the registry or using the System Properties property sheet.

Enable/Disable Automatic Boot Disk Optimization [Defrag] - Locates and consolidates fragmented boot files, data files, and folders on local volumes. For a complete description of Defrag, type Defrag in Help and Support Center

Automatic Expanding Trees in Windows Explorer - If Friendly Trees (Expanding Trees) are enabled, clicking on a drive in the left pane of Explorer will automatically expand the tree. When a different drive is clicked, the tree on the previous drive will close and the tree of the newly selected drive will expand.

Change the Location of Special Folders - Tweak allows changing the location of special folders on the system. Any of the folders listed in the registry key may be moved.

Clear Pagefile on System Shutdown - As an added security precaution it is possible to clear all data that has been written to the page file so it cannot be retrieved. The downside to this tweak is that it may substantially increase shutdown time depending on the amount of data in the page file.

Close Applications Not Responding at Shutdown - When an application fails to respond during shutdown a dialog box is displayed prompting the user to either end it now or to wait. Enabling the value AutoEndTasks will take care of the non-responding application without user intervention. This is often referred to as “Force Exit”.

Enable/Disable Local Group Policy Objects - In a non-networked environment (or in a networked environment that does not have a domain controller), the local Group Policy object's settings are more important, because they are not overwritten by other Group Policy objects. You can open the Group Policy snap-in to edit the local Group Policy object that is stored on your local computer. Click Group Policy to open the local Group Policy object. This tweak allows you to disable Local Group Policy Objects.

Enable/Disable Task Manager - This tweak disables user access to Task manager. It must be applied on a user by user basis.

Modify Shutdown Time For Services To Close - Often times when XP is shutting down a dialog appears saying the system is waiting for a service to close. This tweak will reduce (or increase) the amount of time that expires before this warning appears. In some cases it may be desirable to allow the service more time, but most often a shorter delay is desirable. The lower the number entered the quicker the task will end.

Modify Control Panel Categories - By now I'm sure you're familiar with the new Control Panel in XP. Even if you like the new style you might at times wish you could shift some items around into a different category. It's possible. Follow the directions below.

Power Down the Computer After Shutdown - This tweak sets the XP machine to power off completely rather than stop at the prompt advising users it's now safe to power off the machine.

Power Schemes - This tweak sets the power scheme that will be used for either individual users or system wide for all users.

Altering Prefetch Parameters - Prefetch is one of the commonly overlooked components that can have a significant impact on system boot time. This tweak allows selection of which components will make use of the prefetch parameters. To see which files are gathered using each of the settings, clear the prefetch cache located at C:\Windows\Prefetch and then enable one of the settings. Clear the cache and repeat for each setting.

Prevent Programs from Loading at Startup - Provides an alternative method to MSCONFIG for disabling programs from loading at startup. Two methods are provided; one for disabling entries for the current user and another for all users of the local machine.

Remove Shared Documents Folder - This tweak removes the Shared Documents Folder from all user accounts on the local machine.

Enable/Disable Run Commands Specific to the Registry - This tweak controls the use of the Run command on the local machine.

Set System Restore Space Allotment - Much criticism has been dealt to System Restore and the amount of space it uses by default on the system drives, but there are circumstances where you might want to allocate more than the default 12MB it can consume on each drive. This registry edit allows you to choose the amount of space allocated.

Show/Conceal Hidden Devices in Device Manager - When accessing Device Manager there may be hidden devices that are not displayed. This tweak forces all devices to be displayed.

Show Hidden Operating System Files - Controls whether Operating System Files are shown in Windows Explorer Note: This is not the same as showing Hidden Files and Folders. Hidden Files and Folders are not the same as Hidden Operating System Files. Hidden Files and Folders uses the Value Name of "Hidden" where Hidden Operating System Files uses the Value Name of "ShowSuperHidden" in the registry.

Specify Additional Time Servers - The time is shown by default in the Notification area of the Taskbar. The accuracy of the time displayed is determined by time servers that Windows connects to automatically, if your computer is online when the scheduled synchronization time arrives. The two default time servers XP uses are time.windows.com and time.nist.gov. To add additional time servers to the list of choices:

Specify Source Path to XP Installation Files - Eliminates the need to insert Windows CD for system modifications.

Suppress Error Messages During Boot Process - This tweak suppresses any balloon error messages that pop up alerting you that a piece of hardware isn't working.

Enable/Disable System Properties Access from My Computer - This tweak removes access to System Properties via My Computer as well as via Control Panel.

Turn Off System Beeps - This tweak prevents the system beeps from being audible without altering any other audio settings.

Enable/Disable Error Reporting in Windows XP - In an effort to make Windows XP a better and more stable operating system, Microsoft has included Error Reporting in the latest release. Whenever an application has to close because of an error, it asks that a report be sent to Microsoft for study and evaluation. Sending the report is optional, but users can benefit from the error log that is generated if they wish to study it or print a hard copy. If you find error reporting objectionable and want it disabled:

Adjust System Restore Default Timing Parameters - By default, System Restore creates a restore point of the system every 24 hours and saves restore points for 90 days. The GUI doesn't allow modifying the default settings but it can be done via this registry tweak.

User Registry Edits

Automatic Logon to Windows XP - Convenience is one of the major reasons this tweak has become so popular. However, with convenience there is a price, and in this case that price is a lack of security. Due to the way it is implemented, anyone with local or remote access to the computer can easily navigate to the registry key and find out your password since it's stored as a plain text string. You've been warned.

Create A Hidden User Account - This tweak allows an account that is normally displayed on the Welcome screen to be hidden from view. To log on using the account it's necessary to use the Log On To Windows dialog box similar to the one in Windows 2000.

Welcome Screen Logon versus Classic Logon - This tweak specifies whether the Welcome screen or the Classic logon will be used to access Windows XP.

Ikee.B virus gives control of iPhones to cybercriminals

2009-12-16T04:55:00.000-08:00

Ikee.B virus gives control of iPhones to cybercriminals

A new virus is attackingiPhonesand giving control of the devices to a botnet in Lithuania.

If infected, the phones will download and perform any commands the cybercriminals want it to in the future, according to IT security firm Sophos.

The new worm, called "Duh" or "Ikee.B", spread over the weekend. It hunts for vulnerable phones on a wide range of IP addresses.

It follows the first ever iPhone virus Ikee, which appeared two weeks ago but was only reported in Australia. The current worm includes IP ranges in several countries, including the Netherlands, Portugal, Australia, Austria and Hungary.

Sophos found that the virus also changes an iPhone's password. Researcher Paul Ducklin said the password the hackers choose is "ohshit". The company advised anyone with a hacked phone to change the root password.

Ducklin, head of technology in Sophos Asia Pacific, said, "Apple's default root password "alpine" on the iPhone breaks two fundamental rules - it is both a dictionary word and is well-known. The new worm will break in and immediately change it. This change is made by directly editing the encrypted value of the password in the master password file, so that the new password is never revealed.

"This represents an additional risk as it means that cybercriminals now know what your password is, allowing them to log back into your iPhone later, but you don't, so you cannot login and eliminate the virus."

Graham Cluley, senior technology consultant at Sophos, said, "This latest iPhone malware is doubly criminal. Not only does it break into your iPhone without permission, but it also cedes control of your phone to a botnet command server in Lithuania.

"That means your iPhone is turned into a zombie, ready to download and to perform any commands the cybercriminals might want in the future. If infected, you have to consider all of the data that passes through your iPhone compromised."

iPhone After the first virus attack

2009-12-16T04:52:00.000-08:00

iPhone After the first virus attack, there has been a new attack for users of unlocked iPhone
However, during the past weekend, a new worm, named informally as 'Duh' or 'Ikee.B' by security researchers, is designed to connect to a server in Lithuania and follow hackers orders from a distance

iPhone After the first virus attack, there has been a new attack for users of unlocked iPhone

The first iPhone virus was discovered two weeks ago The most serious so far allows hackers to control the terminal, Sophos computer security company warned.
No criminal or malicious intentions seemed apparent, the worm known as ikee, apart from using bandwidth, merely changing the traditional wallpaper of the iPhone to a picture of Rick Astley, an English singer of the 80s, with The message 'ikee is never going to leave'.

However, during the past weekend, a new worm, named informally as 'Duh' or 'Ikee.B' by security researchers, is designed to connect to a server in Lithuania and follow hackers orders from a distance.

The worm 'Duh', discovered in area of the Netherlands, aims, like its predecessor, to make iPhones look vulnerable, but in this case, includes a wide range of IPs from various countries such as Netherlands, Portugal Australia, Austria and Hungary. "The latest iPhone malware it is doubly dangerous because not only does is access the iPhone without permission, but also gives up control of the phone to a server-based in Lithuania," said Graham Cluley, of Consutor Technology Sophos. "That makes the iPhone into a zombie, ready to download and run any command cyber criminals might wish in the future.

Users who think that their phone could be infected, should consider that all data stored on their iPhone is vulnerable, said Cluley. In addition, Sophos said, 'Duh' can change the password for the iPhone, allowing cyber criminals to get into the iPhone later. Sophos recommends all unlocked phone users change their default password, to prevent these attacks.

Cyber Security Tips

2009-12-07T22:32:00.000-08:00

Use antivirus software and keep it up to date.

Don't open e-mails or attachments from unknown sources. Be suspicious of any unexpected e-mail attachment, even if it appears to be from someone you know.

Protect your computer from Internet intruders. Use firewalls.

Regularly download security updates and patches for operating systems and other software.

Use hard-to-guess passwords. Mix upper and lower case letters, numbers and other characters, and make sure they are at least eight characters long.

Back up your computer data on disks or CDs regularly.

Don't share access to your computer with strangers. Learn about file-sharing risks.

Disconnect from the Internet when not in use.

Check your security on a regular basis. When you change your clocks for daylight-savings time, reevaluate your computer security.

Make sure all family members know what to do if the home computer becomes infected.

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Practice Safe Surfing

While we make every attempt to protect our surfers from virus attacks and other malware, essential protection from viruses, hackers, and privacy threats is critical for online business owners. There are a lot of viruses out there. But some aren't really out there at all! Following is some helpful information to research virus and virus hoax information, and some free programs to help you fight the constant threats.

Several reputable virus software companies provide up-to-date information on the latest virus threats. Many of our members successfully use these free virus protection programs and they have all been reviewed by reputable sites. However, as with all freeware programs, there are no guarantees that they will not conflict with other programs on your computer.

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Tips For Safe Online Chatting

Position the computer in your main living space and make sure the monitor faces OUTWARD into the room so there is no secrecy. This is the single MOST valuable thing you can do for your child's health and safety online.

Work as a team to set your boundaries. Discuss with your child exactly what is OK and what is not OK regarding what kind of Web sites are appropriate for them to visit, which chat rooms to visit and what kinds of things to talk about there. Set logical consequences for when your child disregards your rules (like grounded from the Internet for 1 week), but do NOT threaten to ban the Internet forever.

Stress to your child that they need to tell you if they get any weird or upsetting messages while chatting, and that you will not be angry with them nor will you ban the Internet as a result. Make it clear to the child that you understand that the child cannot control what other people say to him or her and that they are not to blame if this happens.

Set strict time limits for Internet chat use and enforce them. Internet addiction is a real thing!

Make it clear to your child that people in chat rooms are ALWAYS strangers, no matter how often they chat to them, and no matter how well they think they know them, and that while they may be good or bad people, they are still strangers. Your child should therefore not always believe everything people say in chat rooms.

Make sure your child understands that they are never to tell a person online their real name, their school, their phone number or where they live.

Do not permit your child to be left alone in cyberspace for long periods of time - this is when they are most vulnerable. Make sure that their chat time occurs when YOU are around in the house so that you can check in on them regularly.

Be sure to stress to your child that they are to behave politely and respectfully at all times while chatting online with strangers or sending email to friends.

Don't panic! No one can harm your child through the Internet as long as your child follows your rules.

Take an active interest in your child's activity online. Do NOT use the Internet as a babysitter! Learn to surf the Web and chat online yourself so you understand what it is that your child is doing. If you don't know how to chat online, ask your child to teach you!

how to view own ip

2009-12-05T01:47:00.001-08:00

start- run- cmd- ipconfig/all

How to clear an unknown BIOS password.

2009-12-05T01:43:00.000-08:00

If you have mistakenly forgot or lost your BIOS password or you receive a password at boot that you do not know, you will need to clear the BIOS password by one of the below methods.
Precaution: When inside the computer please be sure of the potential of ESD.

Try using generic BIOS passwords. A complete listing of these passwords can be found on document CH000451.
There are utilities designed to help bypass BIOS passwords. An example of a great utility to decrypt / bypass BIOS passwords is the PC BIOS Security and Maintenance toolkit, which is available by clicking here.
On the computer motherboard locate the BIOS clear / password jumper or dipswitch and change its position. Once this jumper has been changed, turn on the computer and the password should be cleared. Once cleared, turn the computer off and return the jumper or dipswitch to its original position.

The location of the jumpers or dipswitches may vary; however, here are general locations where these jumpers / dipswitch may be located.

On the edge of the motherboard - Most jumpers are located on the side of the motherboard for easy accessibility, verify by looking at all visible edges of the motherboard.
By the CMOS battery - Some manufactures will place the jumper to clear the CMOS / BIOS password by the actualCMOS battery.
By the processor - Some manufactures will place the jumpers by the processor of the computer. However, note that in some cases these jumpers will be to change the processor and not the password.
Under the keyboard or bottom of laptop - If you are working on a laptop computer the location of the dipswitch (almost never a jumper) can be under the keyboard or on the bottom of the laptop in a compartment such as the memory compartment.
Other visible location - While it is possible that the jumpers / dipswitches may not be in a visible location, most manufactures try to make things easier by placing the jumpers / dipswitches in another visible location.

Additionally, when looking for the jumper / dipswitch the label of that switch can be anything; however, in most cases will be labeled CLEAR - CLEAR CMOS - JCMOS1 - CLR - CLRPWD - PASSWD - PASSWORD - PWD.

On the computer motherboard locate and remove the CMOS battery for at least 10 minutes allowing the computer to lose its information. Note: this will not work on all computers.
If your manufacturer has a bypass password this can be entered and allow you access to the BIOS and/or computer. Because of the security risk of a bypass password, generally only older computers will have this option. In addition, it is likely that this information will only be able to be obtained from the computer, motherboard or BIOS manufacturer.
On the computer motherboard locate the CMOS solder beads and jump the solder beads to clear the password. The identification and location of these solder beads can vary and if not available in computer documentation is generally only obtainable through the computer manufacturer.

If one of the above solutions do not clear the password or you are unable to locate the jumpers or solder beads, it is recommended you contact the computer manufacturer or motherboard manufacturer for the steps on clearing the computer password.

What is a Trojan Horse Virus?

2009-12-04T22:49:00.000-08:00

A Trojan Horse Virus is a common yet difficult to remove computer threat. This is a type of virus that attempts to make the user think that it is a beneficial application.

A Trojan Horse virus works by hiding within a set of seemingly useful software programs. Once executed or installed in the system, this type of virus will start infecting other files in the computer.

A Trojan Horse Virus is also usually capable of stealing important information from the user's computer. It will then send this information to Internet servers designated by the developer of the virus. The developer will then be able to gain a level of control over the computer through this Trojan virus. While these things take place, the user will notice that the infected computer has become very slow or unexpected windows pop up without any activity from the user. Later on, this will result to a computer crash.

A Trojan Horse virus can spread in a number of ways. The most common means of infection is through email attachments. The developer of the virus usually uses various spamming techniques in order to distribute the virus to unsuspecting users.

These emails contain attachments. Once the user opens the attachment, the Trojan Horse Virus immediately infects the system and performs the tasks mentioned above.

Another method used by malware developers to spread their Trojan Horse viruses is via chat software such as Yahoo Messenger and Skype. Another method used by this virus in order to infect other machines is through sending copies of itself to the people in the address book of a user whose computer has already been infected by the virus.

The best way to prevent a Trojan Horse Virus from entering and infecting your computer is to never open email attachments or files that have been sent by unknown senders. However, not all files we can receive are guaranteed to be virus-free. With this, a good way of protecting your PC against malicious programs such as this harmful application is to install and update an antivirus program.

U3 Technology in USB Pen Drives

2009-12-03T06:53:00.000-08:00

Pen drives has become an important storage device and used by everyone who in need for storing large amount of data as well as they use it mainly for sharing of multimedia files. Though the main purpose of the pen drive is to store vast amount of data it also equipped with other impressive features, which makes your job easy. Many advanced technical aspect makes a pen drive more versatile and liked by business people, students and common users, some of the useful and remarkable technology could be Safety System, U3 technology, Ready Boost Technology etc.

Among this beneficial application U3 technology is a application oriented when compared to other features in the row. Many smart drive are introduced in the market with u3 platform and it is a general platform especially developed for smart drives. It is very convenient to use and comes with the great help if you are frequent traveller carrying important documents along with where ever you go then U3 platform enabled pen drives is the right choice for you.

This technology is developed by two popular storage device makers, Sandisk and M-System and they have created a technology breakthrough and made the smart drives which are capable of carrying the whole computing operation inside a great nutshell of USB smart drives. Proactive digital application of smart drives with convenient usage made the U3 technology more popular in the pen drive industry.

This application is wide spread and offers versatile action for industry and independent users. U3 platform provides you a comfortable way of safely storing confidential digital files under tight security system inside a tamper proof smart drive. It includes some of the useful application software which helps you to carry your data both safely and conveniently anywhere you want, when you plug in your u3 enabled smart drive in any system the software application inside the u3 platform will reveal your personal computing setting and it enables you to work on your personal setting on any other PC that you have connected.

Inside your personal setting you can maintain some useful software application like ICQ instant messaging software, which enables you to send instant messaging service and let you to customise your interface based on your preference. It is a remarkable interactive interface that helps you to do window integration and send emails along with a Google search window and many more. U3 platform comes with smart drive, when you connect it in your computer it will immediately open its LaunchPad through which you can have access to many other applications. LaunchPad is a interface manager that automatically popped up when you insert the smart drive in your laptop and it will guide you on how to work with pre-loaded software applications in order to maintain your own personal U3 workstation. The preloaded software is of different variety such as:

1. RoboForm2Go - password protection application

2. Zinio - Electronic magazine reader

3. Skype - Internet Phone

4. ACDSee - a photo management software

5. File synchronisation software CruzerSync

You can play around in your personal U3 workstation setting up wallpaper, email, music videos, FireFox web browsers, folders and much more. Before buying U3 smart drive make sure its compatibility in your system and buy along with enough space, so that you can add additional software.

security

2009-12-03T06:52:00.000-08:00

FAKE ANTI VIRUS APPS SPREADING

SYMANTEC REPORTS THAT IT HAS TRACKED OVER 43 MILLION INSTALLATION ATTEMPTS FOR OVER 250 DISTINCT VARIETIES OF ROGUE AND SECURITY APPLICATIONS . HOWEVER MANY OF THESE ARE THE SAME UNDERLYING PROGRAM WITH DIFFERENT FRONT ENDS, POPULARITY CALLING THEMSELVES ANTIVIRUS 2009 .AND ALL THROWING UP FAKE WARNINGS FOR NONEXISTENT THREATS SUCH AS "SPYWARE.MONSTER" AND :SPYWARE.IEMONSTER".THESE PROGRAMS TYPICALLY PROMPT THE USER FOR PAYMENTS TO "FIX" THE FIX VIRUS...

anti virus this month (norten 2010)

2009-12-03T06:40:00.000-08:00

Norton AntiVirus 2010 (NAV10) is a new security software product for home and home office use. It is advertised to protect from viruses, spyware, bots, and other threats. NAV10 emphasizes proactive security for the end user without compromising system performance; it is claimed to use just over 10MB of memory. Several new technologies for 2010 are included in NAV10. Sonar 2 technology analyzes files and determines whether they should be trusted or not, and Download Insight Protection helps determine the safety of downloads. Insight technology provides users with relevant information on files in their systems, and for more technical users, information about processes in Windows. These technologies are based on a new concept called "reputation based" security that checks files against a Norton database filled with data collected from Norton's user community.
Installation and Activation
NAV10 demonstrates its advertised ease of use when installed. NAV10 is a 75MB download; after starting the installer it takes only one minute and one click to finish. No restart is required either.
After install, the user is prompted to enter their license key and activate their Norton account. This completes installation and activation. NAV10 has the most hassle-free install of any antivirus software product I have tested to date.
PROGRAM INTERFACE

NAV10's interface is similar to last year's version (which is a good thing) and improved -- the color scheme is easier on the eyes and information is more organized. The layout is clean and the terminology is friendly enough that novice users can understand. Clicking on the "I" next to each component provides more information.
The two bars on the left represent Norton monitoring performance -- system processor usage is given on the left, and NAV10's cut is on the right. This is basically Norton saying "I'm not taking up your system resources!" Clicking on the performance link opens up the Performance side of NAV10:

Most users will not look at or care about this, but for the more technically inclined, it can be informative.
Overall security status is given in the upper left corner. The Computer section of the interface keeps tabs on local items and allows users to scan and run updates. NAV10 updates itself automatically every hour, though I updated once manually to see it in action:

The Computer section also allows users to see how they have contributed to Norton's worldwide security database by clicking on Insight Protection Details. Norton uses this database to help identify threats. This is very proactive because as soon as one user detects a virus, everyone knows about it and is thus protected.

The Network section of the interface shows how the computer is protected from Internet threats. Clicking on Vulnerability Protection shows a list of programs Norton has protected from threats, and the Network Security Map shows what the name implies -- a map of a user's home network, a wireless security analysis, and information on all connected devices.

IN USE AND EFFECTIVENESS
NAV10 did not interfere with gaming, Internet surfing, or office tasks. It operated silently in the background; I only knew it was running because of the yellow circle icon in the system tray.
To test the effectiveness of NAV10, I used several virus files from Eicar.org, an IT security website. The four files provided for download, which have different extensions including .com, .zip, and .txt, contain viruses. Please see the test discriptuon for extensive information on the tests. Antivirus software should detect the files as threats.

NAV10 successfully identified all test virus files as threats, though it did not delete them from the download location. I was surprised at this; even though the files were neutralized and could not do any harm the software should have removed them.
PERFORMANCE IMPACT
We evaluate the performance impact of antivirus software in three ways:

Overall system performance measured before and after antivirus installation using PCMark
Memory footprint
Full system scan time

my test system is an hp

Intel Core 2 Duo P8400 (2.26GHz/3MB L2/1066MHz FSB)
4GB RAM
500GB 5400RPM hard drive
Windows Vista Home Premium x86

Overall System Performance Impact Measured with PCMark Vantage
Prior to installing NAV10 the notebook had the following numbers:

After installing NAV10 I ran the benchmark again:

NAV10 has a less than five percent impact on performance, which is excellent.
Memory Footprint

The Task Manager reports NAV10 uses just under 10MB of system memory, which is superb by today's standards; the software is indeed very efficient and matches Norton's claims.
Time it took to perform a full system scan

A full scan of our test system's hard drive containing 122GB of data took 44 minutes. NAV10 competitor ESET NOD32 took just over 38 minutes bycomparison. NAV10 has a feature called QuickScan, which completes in just one minute since it only scans files it has not scanned before.

What is IP Address?

2009-12-02T07:04:00.000-08:00

Internet Protocol Address (or IP Address) is an unique address that computing devices use to identify itself and communicate with other devices in the Internet Protocol network. Any device connected to the IP network must have an unique IP address within its network. An IP address is analogous to a street address or telephone number in that it is used to uniquely identify a network device to deliver mail message, or call ("view") a website.
Dotted Decimals
The traditional IP Addresses (IPv4) uses a 32-bit number to represent an IP address, and it defines both network and host address. Due to IPv4 addresses running out, a new version of the IP protocol (IPv6) has been invented to offer virtually limitless number of unique addresses. An IP address is written in "dotted decimal" notation, which is 4 sets of numbers separated by period each set representing 8-bit number ranging from (0-255). An example of IPv4 address is 216.3.128.12, which is the IP address assigned to topwebhosts.org.
An IPv4 address is divided into two parts: network and host address. The network address determines how many of the 32 bits are used for the network address, and remaining bits for the host address. The host address can further divided into subnetwork and host number.
Class A, B, C and CIDR networks
Traditionally IP network is classified as A, B or C network. The computers identified the class by the first 3 bits (A=000, B=100, C=110), while humans identify the class by first octet(8-bit) number. With scarcity of IP addresses, the class-based system has been replaced by Classless Inter-Domain Routing (CIDR) to more efficiently allocate IP addresses.


Class	Network Address	Number of Hosts	Netmask

CIDR	/4	240,435,456	240.0.0.0

CIDR	/5	134,217,728	248.0.0.0

CIDR	/6	67,108,864	252.0.0.0

CIDR	/7	33,554,432	254.0.0.0

A	/8 (1-126)	16,777,216	255.0.0.0

CIDR	/9	8,388,608	255.128.0.0

CIDR	/10	4,194,304	255.192.0.0

CIDR	/11	2,097,152	255.224.0.0

CIDR	/12	1,048,576	255.240.0.0

CIDR	/13	524,288	255.248.0.0

CIDR	/14	262,144	255.252.0.0

CIDR	/15	131,072	255.254.0.0

B	/16 (128-191)	65,534	255.255.0.0

CIDR	/17	32,768	255.255.128.0

CIDR	/18	16,384	255.255.192.0

CIDR	/19	8,192	255.255.224.0

CIDR	/20	4,096	255.255.240.0

CIDR	/21	2,048	255.255.248.0

CIDR	/22	1,024	255.255.252.0

CIDR	/23	512	255.255.254.0

C	/24 (192-223)	256	255.255.255.0

CIDR	/25	128	255.255.255.128

CIDR	/26	64	255.255.255.192

CIDR	/27	32	255.255.255.224

CIDR	/28	16	255.255.255.240

CIDR	/29	8	255.255.255.248

CIDR	/30	4	255.255.255.252

Note: (1) 127 Network Address reserved for loopback test. (2) Class D (224-247, Multicast) and Class E (248-255, Experimental) are not intended to be used in public operation.

Public and Private IP Addresses

In order to maintain uniqueness within global namespace, the IP addresses are publicly registered with the Network Information Center (NIC) to avoid address conflicts. Devices that need to be publicly identified such as web or mail servers must have a globally unique IP address, and they are assigned a public IP address. Devices that do not require public access may be assigned a private IP address, and make it uniquely identifiable within one organization. For example, a network printer may be assigned a private IP address to prevent the world from printing from it. To allow organizations to freely assign private IP addresses, the NIC has reserved certain address blocks for private use. A private network is a network that uses rfc1918 IP address space. The following IP blocks are reserved for private IP addresses.


Class	Starting IP Address	Ending IP Address

A	10.0.0.0	10.255.255.255

B	172.16.0.0	172.31.255.255

C	192.168.0.0	192.168.255.255

In addition to above classful private addresses, 169.254.0.0 through 169.254.255.255 addresses are reserved for Zeroconf (or APIPA, Automatic Private IP Addressing) to automatically create the usable IP network without configuration.

What is loopback IP address?

The loopback IP address is the address used to access itself. The IPv4 designated 127.0.0.1 as the loopback address with the 255.0.0.0 subnetmask. A loopback interface is also known as a virtual IP, which does not associate with hardware interface. On Linux systems, the loopback interface is commonly called lo or lo0. The corresponding hostname for this interface is calledlocalhost.
The loopback address is used to test network software without physically installing a Network Interface Card (NIC), and without having to physically connect the machine to a TCP/IP network. A good example of this is to access the web server running on itself by using http://127.0.0.1 or http://localhost.

What is Denial of Service (DoS) attack?

2009-12-02T06:42:00.000-08:00

DoS attack, denial-of-service attack, is an explicit attempt to make a computer resource unavailable by either injecting a computer virus or flooding the network with useless traffic. There are two types of DoS attacks: computer attack and network attack. Common forms of denial os services attacks are:

Ping of death

Ping of death is caused by an attacker deliverately sending a ping packet, normally 64 bytes, that is larger than the 65,535 bytes. Many computer systems cannot handle an IP packet larger than the maximum IP packet size of 65,535, and often causes computer systems crash. It is illegal to send a ping packet of size greater than 65,535, but a packet of such size can be sent if it is fragmented. When a receiving computer reassembles the packet, a buffer overflow occurs, which often causes computer to crash. This exploit has affected a wide variety of systems including Unix, Linux, Mac, Windows and routers; but the fixes have been applied since 1997 making this exploit mostly historical.

Ping of flood

Ping of flood is caused by an attacker overwhelming the victim's network with ICMP Echo Request packets. This is a fairly easy attack to perform without extensive network knowledge as many ping utilities support this operation. A flood of ping traffic can consume singificant bandwidth on low to mid-speed networks bringing down a network to a crawl.

Smurf Attack

Smurf attach exploits the target by sending repeated ping request to broadcast address of the target network. The ping request packet often uses forged IP address (return address), which is the target site that is to receive the denial of service attack. The result will be lots of ping replies flooding back to the innocent, spoofed host. If number of hosts replying to the ping request is large enough, the network will no longer be able to receive real traffic.

SYN Floods

When establishing a session between TCP client and server, a hand-shaking message exchange occurs betwen a server and client. A session setup packet contains a SYN field that identifies the sequence in the message exchange. An attacker may send a flood of connection request and do not respond to the replies, which leaves the request packets in the buffer so that legitimate connection request can't be accommodated.

Teardrop Attack

Teardrop attack exploits by sending IP fragment packets that are difficult to reassemble. A fragment packet identifies an offset that is used to assemble the entire packet to be reassembled by the receiving system. In the teardrop attack, the attacker's IP puts a confusing offset value in the sebsequent fragments and if the receiving system doesn't know how to handle such situation, it may cause the system to crash.

Mail Bomb

Unauthorized users send large number of email messages with large attachments to a particular mail server, filling up disk space resulting in denied email services to other users.

What is distributed DoS (DDoS) attack?

DDoS (Distributed Denial Of Service) is a tactic used to attack a victim from multiple compromised computers. Attacker installs a virus or trojan software on compromised systems, and use them to flood a victim's network in a way that the victim's server cannot handle it.

DDoS involves 3 parties: an offender, helpers and a victim. The offender is the one who plots the attack, and helpers are the machines that are compromised by the offender to launch attack against a victim (the target). The offender commands the helpers to attack the victim's host at the precisely same time. Due to this co-ordinated nature between the offender and helpers, the DDoS is also known as co-ordinated attack.

Resolutions

If you suspect a DoS or DDoS attack due to a significant network slowdown or denied service, you may execute a few diagnostic Linux commands to find a host under attack.

First, you'll have to identify a host under DoS or DDoS attack. To do this, you'll have to monitor network traffic and see where the traffic is coming from and where they are going. This can be done with ethereal or tethereal Linux command.

# tethereal
 0.809751  10.1.1.5 -> 192.168.1.4 IP Fragmented IP protocol
(proto=UDP 0x11, off=2960)
 0.810357  10.1.1.5 -> 192.168.1.4 IP Fragmented IP protocol
(proto=UDP 0x11, off=1480)
...

## If you do not have ethereal installed, you may use 'yum' to
## install it on your system.
# yum install tethereal

Once you have identified the host, logon to the server and find server load. You may use w, uptime command to find server load. You may also use top and ps commands to determin Linux process that consumes most resource. To learn more about top command output, please read an article about high volume traffic.

# uptime
15:19:51 up 127 days, 5:39, 2 users, load average: 10.78, 8.68,
4.82

# top
top - 15:20:02 up 127 days, 5:39, 2 users,  load average: 10.78,
8.68, 4.82
Tasks: 170 total,   6 running, 163 sleeping, 0 stopped, 1 zombie
Cpu(s): 3.5% us, 1.7% sy, 0.1% ni, 94.3% id, 0.4% wa, 0.0% hi,
0.0% si
Mem:   2074924k total,  2046676k used,    28248k free,    58692k
buffers
Swap:  4192956k total,      144k used,  4192812k free,  1553828k
cached

 PID USER   PR NI  VIRT  RES SHR S %CPU %MEM   TIME+  COMMAND
14815 apache 25  0 52776  628 500 R 98.6  0.0  9:59.91 cw7.3

DoS and DDoS attacks occur due to running vulnerable software on your server(s). The attackers use known application vulnerability and security holes to compromise the servers in different network either by installing viruses and trojan horses (intrusion) or initiate DDoS attacks. To prevent DoS and DDoS attacks, you may take following actions.

1. Install Intrusion Detection System (IDS) such as Advanced Intrusion Detection Environment(AIDE) For installation procedure, consult Linux Gazzette. Perform regular system audits by installing and running RKHUNTE and CHROOTKIT to make sure installed Linux binaries are healthy. You may also install open-source network audit tools like NESSSUS, NMAP, and SAINT and perform regular network audits for vulnerabilities.

2. Implement Sysctl. Prevent ping attacks (ping of death, ping of flood, and smurf attacks) by disabling ping responses on the network machines. Enable IP Spoofingprotection, and TCP SYN Cookie Protection. On Linux variant machines, follow sysctl configuration procedure.

3. Install advanced firewall and DDoS utilities. To secure your server and protect from DoS attacks, you may want to install APF, BFD, DDoS and Rootkit. To install those utilities, please follow DDoS Prevention: APF, BFD, DDoS and RootKit setup procedure.

APF: Advanced Policy Firewall
BFD: Brute Force Detection
DDoS: DDoS Deflate
Rootkit: Spy and Junkware detection and removal tool

4. Install Apache mod_evasive and mod_security modules to protect against HTTP DDoS attacks. For installation procedures, consult mod_evasive and mod_security how-tos.

What is MAC Address?

2009-12-02T06:29:00.001-08:00

MAC, Media Access Control, address is a globally unique identifier assigned to network devices, and therefore it is often referred to as hardware or physical address. MAC addresses are 6-byte (48-bits) in length, and are written in MM:MM:MM:SS:SS:SS format. The first 3-bytes are ID number of the manufacturer, which is assigned by an Internet standards body. The second 3-bytes are serial number assigned by the manufacturer.
MAC layer represents layer 2 of the TCP/IP (adopted from OSI Reference Model), where IP represents layer 3. MAC address can be thought of as supporting hardware implementation whereas IP address supports software implementation. MAC addresses are permanently burned into hardware by hardware manufacturer, but IP addresses are assigned to the network devices by a network adminstrator. DHCP relies on MAC address to assign IP addresses to network devices.
How do I find a MAC address of network device?

Operating Systems support various command-line and GUI utilities to allow users to find MAC address of the system. On Unix variants including Solaris and Linux support "ifconfig -a", "ip link list" or "ip address show" command that displays MAC address of the network device among other useful information. Windows including NT, 2000, XP and 2003 support "ipconfig /all" command that displays MAC address. On a MacOS, one can find MAC address by opening "System Preferences", then selecting "Network".

What is Subnet Mask?

2009-12-02T06:26:00.002-08:00

An IP address has two components, the network address and the host address. A subnet mask separates the IP address into the network and host addresses (). Subnetting further divides the host part of an IP address into a subnet and host address (). It is called a subnet mask because it is used to identify network address of an IP address by perfoming bitwise AND operation on the netmask.

A Subnet mask is a 32-bit number that masks an IP address, and divides the IP address into network address and host address. Subnet Mask is made by setting network bits to all "1"s and setting host bits to all "0"s. Within a given network, two host addresses are reserved for special purpose. The "0" address is assigned a network address and "255" is assigned to a broadcast address, and they cannot be assigned to a host.

Examples of commonly used netmasks for classed networks are 8-bits (Class A), 16-bits (Class B) and 24-bits (Class C), and classless networks are as follows:


Class	Address	# of Hosts	Netmask (Binary)	Netmask (Decimal)

CIDR	/4	240,435,456	11110000 00000000 00000000 00000000	240.0.0.0

CIDR	/5	134,217,728	11111000 00000000 00000000 00000000	248.0.0.0

CIDR	/6	67,108,864	11111100 00000000 00000000 00000000	252.0.0.0

CIDR	/7	33,554,432	11111110 00000000 00000000 00000000	254.0.0.0

A	/8	16,777,216	11111111 00000000 00000000 00000000	255.0.0.0

CIDR	/9	8,388,608	11111111 10000000 00000000 00000000	255.128.0.0

CIDR	/10	4,194,304	11111111 11000000 00000000 00000000	255.192.0.0

CIDR	/11	2,097,152	11111111 11100000 00000000 00000000	255.224.0.0

CIDR	/12	1,048,576	11111111 11110000 00000000 00000000	255.240.0.0

CIDR	/13	524,288	11111111 11111000 00000000 00000000	255.248.0.0

CIDR	/14	262,144	11111111 11111100 00000000 00000000	255.252.0.0

CIDR	/15	131,072	11111111 11111110 00000000 00000000	255.254.0.0

B	/16	65,534	11111111 11111111 00000000 00000000	255.255.0.0

CIDR	/17	32,768	11111111 11111111 10000000 00000000	255.255.128.0

CIDR	/18	16,384	11111111 11111111 11000000 00000000	255.255.192.0

CIDR	/19	8,192	11111111 11111111 11100000 00000000	255.255.224.0

CIDR	/20	4,096	11111111 11111111 11110000 00000000	255.255.240.0

CIDR	/21	2,048	11111111 11111111 11111000 00000000	255.255.248.0

CIDR	/22	1,024	11111111 11111111 11111100 00000000	255.255.252.0

CIDR	/23	512	11111111 11111111 11111110 00000000	255.255.254.0

C	/24	256	11111111 11111111 11111111 00000000	255.255.255.0

CIDR	/25	128	11111111 11111111 11111111 10000000	255.255.255.128

CIDR	/26	64	11111111 11111111 11111111 11000000	255.255.255.192

CIDR	/27	32	11111111 11111111 11111111 11100000	255.255.255.224

CIDR	/28	16	11111111 11111111 11111111 11110000	255.255.255.240

CIDR	/29	8	11111111 11111111 11111111 11111000	255.255.255.248

CIDR	/30	4	11111111 11111111 11111111 11111100	255.255.255.252

Subnetting an IP network is to separate a big network into smaller multiple networks for reorganization and security purposes. All nodes (hosts) in a subnetwork see all packets transmitted by any node in a network. Performance of a network is adversely affected under heavy traffic load due to collisions and retransmissions.

Applying a subnet mask to an IP address separates network address from host address. The network bits are represented by the 1's in the mask, and the host bits are represented by 0's. Performing a bitwise logical AND operation on the IP address with the subnet mask produces the network address. For example, applying the Class C subnet mask to our IP address 216.3.128.12 produces the following network address:

IP:   1101 1000 . 0000 0011 . 1000 0000 . 0000 1100  (216.003.128.012)Mask: 1111 1111 . 1111 1111 . 1111 1111 . 0000 0000  (255.255.255.000)---------------------------------------------1101 1000 . 0000 0011 . 1000 0000 . 0000 0000  (216.003.128.000)

Subnetting Network

Here is another scenario where subnetting is needed. Pretend that a web host with a Class C network needs to divide the network so that parts of the network can be leased to its customers. Let's assume that a host has a network address of 216.3.128.0 (as shown in the example above). Let's say that we're going to divide the network into 2 and dedicate the first half to itself, and the other half to its customers.

216 .   3 . 128 . (0000 0000)  (1st half assigned to the web host)216 .   3 . 128 . (1000 0000)  (2nd half assigned to the customers)

The web host will have the subnet mask of 216.3.128.128 (/25). Now, we'll further divide the 2nd half into eight block of 16 IP addresses.

216 .   3 . 128 . (1000 0000)  Customer 1 -- Gets 16 IPs (14 usable)216 .   3 . 128 . (1001 0000)  Customer 2 -- Gets 16 IPs (14 usable)216 .   3 . 128 . (1010 0000)  Customer 3 -- Gets 16 IPs (14 usable)216 .   3 . 128 . (1011 0000)  Customer 4 -- Gets 16 IPs (14 usable)216 .   3 . 128 . (1100 0000)  Customer 5 -- Gets 16 IPs (14 usable)216 .   3 . 128 . (1101 0000)  Customer 6 -- Gets 16 IPs (14 usable)216 .   3 . 128 . (1110 0000)  Customer 7 -- Gets 16 IPs (14 usable)216 .   3 . 128 . (1111 0000)  Customer 8 -- Gets 16 IPs (14 usable)-----------------------------255 . 255 . 255 . (1111 0000)  (Subnet mask of 255.255.255.240)

CIDR - Classless Inter Domain Routing

Classless InterDomain Routing (CIDR) was invented to keep the Internet from running out of IP Addresses. The IPv4, a 32-bit, addresses have a limit of 4,294,967,296 (2³²) unique IP addresses. The classful address scheme (Class A, B and C) of allocating IP addresses in 8-bit increments can be very wasteful. With classful addressing scheme, a minimum number of IP addresses allocated to an organization is 256 (Class C). Giving 256 IP addresses to an organization only requiring 15 IP addresses is wasteful. Also, an organization requiring more than 256 IP addresses (let's say 1,000 IP addresses) is assigned a Class B, which allocates 65,536 IP addresses. Similarly, an organization requiring more than 65,636 (65,634 usable IPs) is assigned a Class A network, which allocates 16,777,216 (16.7 Million) IP addresses. This type of address allocation is very wasteful.

With CIDR, a network of IP addresses is allocated in 1-bit increments as opposed to 8-bits in classful network. The use of a CIDR notated address can easily represent classful addresses (Class A = /8, Class B = /16, and Class C = /24). The number next to the slash (i.e. /8) represents the number of bits assigned to the network address. The example shown above can be illustrated with CIDR as follows:

216.3.128.12, with subnet mask of 255.255.255.128 is written as216.3.128.12/25Similarly, the 8 customers with the block of 16 IP addresses can bewritten as:216.3.128.129/28, 216.3.128.130/28, and etc.

With an introduction of CIDR addressing scheme, IP addresses are more efficiently allocated to ISPs and customers; and hence there is less risk of IP addresses running out anytime soon. For detailed specification on CIDR, please review RFC 1519. With introduction of additional gaming, medical, applicance and telecom devices requiring static IP addresses in addition to more than 6.5 billion (July 2006 est.) world population, the IPv4 addresses with CIDR addressing scheme will eventually run out. To solve shortage of IPv4 addresses, the IPv6 (128-bit) address scheme was introduced in 1993